Wake Forest Band (SOTOGAB) Fundraiser

The Wake Forest Athletics Band (also know as the Spirit of The Old Gold and Black, or SOTOGAB) is one of the biggest support groups for Wake Forest sports. It performs at every single men's and women's basketball game, all home football game, and several non-revenue sports throughout the year.

It also travels to at least two road games a year in football. One of the most frequent questions that I received while a member of SOTOGAB and even know is: "why doesn't the band travel to more away games?"

The simple answer to that is money. It costs a lot of money to load up buses with 100+ student and staff members, provide a stipend for meals, and usually also include a hotel room for them as well. This adds up in a hurry, and due to a smaller athletic budget already, SOTOGAB is usually on down the list in terms of who gets money.

This is your chance to help out and get SOTOGAB to more football games in the future!

The purpose of this fundraiser to "help the band fund new travel opportunities next fall and in perpetuity". The target goal is $100K thanks to a former band member who has pledged to match that amount if it is raised by December 31st.

As of this post being released, SOTOGAB is only $6,962 away from reaching its goal of $100K. To achieve the rest of this money, they have established a CrowdTilt account to receive donations and contributions. Tilt is a unique way to raise money in that it does not actually draw money out of the card/PayPal account until the goal (in this case $7,000) is reached. Once it hits the goal and the number has "tilted", the accounts then get drawn out.

Please click here to donate.

If you have any questions about the fundraiser, or wish to get in touch with myself or Dr. Bowen about it, please send me an e-mail and I will do my best to facilitate.

When asked about the fundraiser, Dr. Charles Bowen (Director of Bands) offered the following:

"We are grateful to all who have already contributed to the Athletic Band Travel Fund Campaign, and we are excited for the opportunities that the Travel Fund will offer for the Spirit of the Old Gold and Black.  This fund will allow SOTOGAB to travel to at least one additional road game in the fall to support the Deacs on the field, and to provide spirit and entertainment for all Deacon fans."

Many of you may know that myself, Rob, and Bart were all members of SOTOGAB during our four year stay at Mother So Dear. We don't do a lot of these posts, but this is important to us, and very important to former, current, and future band members as well. SOTOGAB does a phenomenal job that is often overlooked by many in the Wake Forest community, and this is the perfect time to give back and show your appreciation for what they do.

It is also a great way to show the administration how integral having a frequently travelling marching band can be for the football team.

We are blessed here at Blogger So Dear to have an excellent community, and I would personally be honored if that support translated into even a small donation towards SOTOGAB's goal.