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K-State Today

February 20, 2014

Chad Weiberg named 2014 National Fundraiser of the Year by National Association of Athletic Development Directors

Submitted by Kenny Lannou

Chad Weiberg, senior associate athletics director for development who has led K-State’s Ahearn Fund to unprecedented success over the past several years, has been named the 2014 National Association of Athletic Development Directors, or NAADD, Fundraiser of the Year.

“Chad has done an unbelievable job rebuilding our Ahearn Fund infrastructure while leading our development staff in an effort to personally build relationships with K-Staters worldwide as we continue to seek the resources necessary to reach our goal of providing all of our student-athletes with a world-class experience,” said Athletics Director John Currie.

K-State's fundraising efforts have been completely overhauled under Weiberg’s leadership, with a focus on personal interaction and communication to Ahearn Fund donors of all levels. Grass-roots support through the Ahearn Fund is K-State’s largest single source of revenue. Regardless of the amount, Ahearn Fund gifts are absolutely critical to the department’s ability to achieve its vision of a model intercollegiate athletics program.

“It is an honor to receive this recognition on behalf of K-State,” Weiberg said. “I am very appreciative and humbled by this acknowledgement from my NAADD colleagues, but this is really a recognition of the great things that are happening at K-State because of the leadership from President Schulz and John Currie, our outstanding coaches who do an unbelievable job teaching our student-athletes, the donors and fans who continue to amaze me with their passion and generosity, and the extremely talented members of the entire athletic department staff and Ahearn Fund team that I am fortunate to be a part of and get to learn from every day.”

This past year, total athletic gifts reached $36.8 million, a new department record and more than triple the total from the year prior to the Ahearn Fund being relaunched in fiscal year 2010. Donations to the Ahearn Fund and department have increased in each of the last four years, while Ahearn Fund participation has grown from 5,000 to more than 9,000 members — a new department record. K-State also can stake claim to Ahearn Fund members hailing from 49 different states.

“I am so pleased Chad is being recognized with this award,” said K-State President Kirk Schulz. “His leadership and tireless efforts have resulted in record membership for the Ahearn Fund, but he has also been a major partner in the growth of giving to non-athletic causes throughout campus. This is critically important in not just providing a superior experience for our student-athletes but also in securing funds available for academic needs and other initiatives vital to our pursuit of becoming a Top 50 public research university by 2025.”

The National Leadership Circle, K-State’s comprehensive leadership annual giving program for $10,000 and above donors, was launched in 2009 with less than 200 members giving at that level and has now grown to more than 400 members representing 19 different states.

Over the last five years K-State also has initiated and completed more than $125 million in comprehensive facility improvements benefitting all 450 Wildcat student-athletes, highlighted by the West Stadium Center at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, a state-of-the-art Basketball Training Facility, a $3 million Intercollegiate Rowing Center and the Mike Goss Tennis Stadium.

Weiberg and his staff have also made tremendous strides in relation to capital gifts as K-State donors have stepped up with 22 private gifts in excess of $1 million since fall 2009 compared to only five such in the prior history of K-State Athletics.

"Chad is very deserving of this honor and recognition,” said Ahearn Fund National Leadership Circle member Rand Berney. “Not only is he very knowledgeable about the keys to fundraising success through his years of experience working for foundations and in collegiate athletics, his success is primarily tied to who he is as a person. Chad is able to communicate effectively where it is needed and never loses his genuine interest in the donors in which he interfaces. To him, they are more than just donors, they are his friends and he is able to link resources and needs with everyone feeling good about the difference they can make."

Weiberg is in his ninth year at K-State and his second as senior associate athletics director for development. He came to the athletics department as director of major gifts in 2005 after serving one year as the director of corporate relations for the KSU Foundation.

A 1994 graduate of the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University, Weiberg holds an MBA from OSU, was honored in 2008 with the Spears School of Business Outstanding Young Alumnus Award and in 2011 was recognized as one of the Top 50 MBA graduates in the program’s first 50 years. For nine years following his graduation and prior to coming to K-State, Weiberg worked in various institutional advancement roles with Oklahoma State Athletics, the OSU Alumni Association and the OSU Foundation. He and his wife, Jodi, have two children, Ella, age 7, and Grant, age 5.

“Hidden beneath this award is the fact that above and beyond being a highly successful fundraiser, Chad is a caring, compassionate, professional, family-oriented and loyal individual,” said head football coach Bill Snyder. “He has endeared himself to our community, our university, our alumni base and our football program. He is truly a part of the university family as well as being a wonderful husband and father.”

For more information on the Ahearn Fund or to join for as little as $50 per year, visit AhearnFund.com or contact a staff member toll-free at 888-232-9074.