Donations to the Georgia athletics program are roughly on pace with a year ago despite the Bulldogs' first losing football season in 14 years.
Contributions to the "Hartman Fund," the fundraising vehicle that is tied to football season tickets, have reached $22.4 million and continue to inch toward last year's $22.7 million, according to UGA.
"I am counting on [the final number] being very close to last year," said Dave Muia, the Georgia athletics official who oversees fundraising and alumni relations.
The stated deadline for contributions was Feb. 15, but the cutoff is not hard and fast. Donations were still being processed Tuesday.
Muia cites several factors for donations holding up well in the aftermath of a 6-7 season: the Bulldogs' much-celebrated recruiting class, the high-profile 2011 opener vs. Boise State and, foremost, the desire of loyal fans to hold on to their seats in Sanford Stadium.
The way the Hartman Fund is set up, season-ticket holders can retain the right to buy their seats for life provided they make the prescribed annual donation -- a minimum of $250 per seat, more for prime locations. But if donors skip a year and later want back in, they would not be assured the same or comparable seat location.
That discourages fans, particularly those with prime seats, from dropping out even after a disappointing season, such as last year's.
Still, UGA officials wondered how contributions would hold up in a still-tough economy after the Liberty Bowl loss to Central Florida.
"There's always concern with the economy the way it is. You just don't know what individual choices people will have to make," Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said Tuesday. "So regardless of whether we had the performance in the Liberty Bowl, you always have that element of concern. And when you do lose a game [like that], you worry a little bit more.
"But [from] the trends we've seen so far, I think Georgia fans have responded in a wonderful way. ... I think this is an indicator that people care about this institution [and] want to see success on the field and off the field. Now we have an obligation as an athletic association to live up to our end of the deal. And that's to have an athletic association that our supporters and everyone can be proud of."
Although Hartman Fund contributions go toward supporting all of UGA's sports teams -- a point McGarity and Muia say has been stressed to donors this year -- football ticket priority is the engine that drives donations.
Georgia has sold out every game in 92,714-seat Sanford Stadium for the past 10 years. Some 52,750 seats are sold as season tickets, with the rest going to students, staff, opposing teams, etc.
Slightly more than 2,000 season tickets changed hands last year, and it appears the number will be similar this year.
As of Tuesday, Georgia had received contributions from 13,705 donors, down from last year's 14,002. Each donor bought an average of about 3.75 season tickets last year. This year's number of donors might increase in the coming days; UGA customarily contacts donors from the previous year if the deadline passes without receiving a contribution from them.
A notable trend this year, Muia said, has been a sharp increase in first-time donors.
As of Tuesday, 619 new donors -- more than triple last year's number -- had contributed $1,077,000, an average of $1,740 each.
New donors, perhaps anticipating more attrition than usual, might have seen this year as an opportune time to get first-time season tickets.
First-time season tickets are limited to whatever seats remain after all renewals are filled. If there are more first-time orders than available seats, the new orders are filled on the basis of cumulative Hartman Fund contributions, starting with the highest and continuing until no tickets remain.
Qualifying for the right to buy a first-time season ticket last year required a contribution of $1,550, down from $4,205 in 2009 and $10,651 in 2008. The cutoff is usually not known until June, when ticket orders are filled.
Hartman Fund contributions spiked to an all-time high of $26.1 million in 2008, when the Bulldogs were coming off a No. 2 national ranking in the final 2007 polls. Contributions dropped to $23.3 million in 2009, the second highest figure on record, and $22.7 million last year.
