The term ‘pitching change’ doesn’t just mean switching pitchers in a baseball game, it’s also the name of a new UNF fundraising program. 

Last month, University of North Florida Athletics announced a fundraising initiative aimed at generating unrestricted funds for its sports and student athletes. The new program, coined as “Pitching Change,” is designed to target younger supporters who may not be able to make large donations but can contribute small amounts regularly. 

According to UNF Athletics, Pitching Change gives UNF fans the opportunity to round up purchases at over 15,000 different businesses, while earning cash back in the process. 

Even though the athletics department is having the “best fundraising year” it’s ever had, UNF Athletic Director Nick Morrow said 98% of fundraising dollars are restricted to a specific scholarship, facility project or sport. 

Since raising student fees isn’t an option, according to Morrow, adopting this initiative is a way for UNF Athletics to bring in more unrestricted money. 

“We don’t have a lot of unrestricted money that I can take and deal with our biggest needs whether that’s taking care of a student athlete scholarship that may need help, or ‘Hey, this facility project came up, we really want to get that done,’” Morrow said. 

Goals and Promotion

Overall, Morrow said the main goal of Pitching Change is to generate additional revenue. While this program is designed to further fund UNF Athletics, Morrow said it also promotes engagement with fans, supporters and alumni. 

For example, UNF Athletics held an event at a brewery where the first 40 people who signed up for Pitching Change received a free beer. This, according to Morrow, allows younger alumni to contribute without breaking the bank. 

“[Younger people] would like to contribute and help out but they just don’t have the capacity right now…” Morrow said. “Help give back without being a heavy lift or burden on them.”

Non-drinkers or those who are underage shouldn’t worry because Morrow said there will also be plenty more events that aren’t alcohol-themed.

“We’ve got a lot of different things we’re trying to push so we want to be mindful of where to push it and stuff,” Morrow said, referring to future promotional events the athletic department has in store. 

Pitching Change Challenges

Upon announcing Pitching Change, Morrow said he didn’t want UNF to be the first school to sign up, but he also wanted to take advantage before other schools joined. Before joining, schools have to make sure they are following all of the NCAA’s rules, and there have been many recent changes within the NCAA, with rules and regulations differing regularly. 

On the broader scheme, Morrow said his administration is keeping up with the rule changes by meeting regularly with coaches and staff. 

“How can we take advantage of [the changes]?” Morrow said. “And we’re really looking for ways to position ourselves to be successful in this new model.”

The Pitching Change initiative is still new, only being just over a month since the fundraiser was announced, so there aren’t any numbers on how many have signed up. However, Morrow said he expects the program to have a slow start.

“It’s going to be about power in numbers…” said Morrow. “If people sign up and the average person ends up contributing 20 bucks a month, and all of a sudden now if you can get 100 people, that’s $2,000, and it just keeps going up and up from there.”

Morrow said effort is key in whether Pitching Change will be successful. The athletics department hopes to release more social media videos and giveaways to encourage people to sign up for the program. 

“We’re going to start picking up the marketing efforts,” Morrow said. “Especially with basketball season winding down and us trying to keep our head above water with all the sports playing at one time.”

NIL Collectives and Other Additions

For clarification, Pitching Change is separate from Name, Image, Likeness collectives that fundraise money to directly pay student-athletes. 

However, Morrow said there is a new NCAA model that programs can start opting into this fall, where athletic programs can start doing direct NIL payments, removing the need for third-party collectives. 

Morrow said UNF plans to opt-in by 2026, and Pitching Change will better position UNF Athletics to be more successful when they join the new model in 2026. 

In addition to Pitching Change, Morrow said UNF Athletics has spoken with NOCAP Sports, a group focusing on revenue generation designed to help businesses save money through services like credit card processing. When businesses save money, so does the athletic department. 

Despite all the new things UNF Athletics has announced, Morrow said more is on the horizon, including potential facility projects during the summer. 

More information about Pitching Change can be found here.

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