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Matt Kupec

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Matt Kupec:  Thank Goodness for Florida’s Football Stadiums

Matt Kupec: Thank Goodness for Florida’s Football Stadiums

by Matt Kupec

January 16, 2021

Watching the recent College Football Game featuring Alabama and Ohio State at Hard Rock Cafe Stadium in Miami, Florida was a joy!  And a throwback!  Open seating stadium with no dome, natural grass playing surface and the sounds and sights of college football at its best.

Matt Kupec:  When Does Football Start?

Matt Kupec: When Does Football Start?

by Matt Kupec

February 23, 2020

Doesn’t it feel sometimes like the world today is turned upside down?  When something you could count on just isn’t measuring up to the normal ways?

Well, that’s the way it feels with the current state of UNC Tar Heel athletics.  Specifically, I am referencing the UNC basketball and football programs.

Quick history lesson.  Every fall, the UNC football season starts, the Tar Heels lose a September game and the Tar Heel boosters are heard to be saying, “when does basketball start” as they leave Kenan Stadium after a gridiron loss.  Just a few games into the season and already the fans have given up on the fortunes for a successful Tar Heel football season!

All the attention – and fan enthusiasm – turns to basketball early in the fall season in anticipation of another successful basketball season.  Then, and almost always, the Tar Heel basketball program delivers.  Often in the form of national championships.

My senior year as the UNC QB, we started 4-0 and were ranked 12th in the nation, facing an undefeated Wake Forest team at home.  We lost a tough game and I remember my brother Chris, a former Tar Heel All-ACC QB, telling me after that game how the fans – even with our impressive start – were asking each other on the exit from Kenan Stadium, “when does basketball season start?”

It’s been that way since the beginning of UNC athletics.  After all, In the rich, storied history of UNC basketball, there have been only 10 losing seasons in the 110 years of UNC basketball.  The impressive consistency of UNC to win year after year has placed UNC basketball in the elite of college hoops.

UNC football, however, is a different story.  In the 132 seasons of playing football, UNC has weathered through 42 losing seasons.  Yes, 42 losing seasons!  The Tar Heels are not quite the blue blood of college football.

As I watched the undermanned Tar Heel basketball team fall to Notre Dame and Louisville this week – leaving the Heels in last place in the ACC with an overall record of 10-17 – I couldn’t help but think might this be the year the Tar Heels faithful might be looking forward to the start of next year’s football season.  Perhaps even a hint of “when does football start?”

UNC football this past fall brought a level of optimism and excitement perhaps unseen in its very average history. The return of Hall of Fame Coach Mack Brown sparked an interest and passion for UNC football that hasn’t probably ever been rivaled at any time throughout UNC’s football history.

Despite going just 7-6 there seems to be an optimism about next season that has fans thinking about a Coastal Division championship and a chance at dethroning Clemson in the ACC Championship game.  With a great quarterback returning, talent at the skill positions, great recruiting class and favorable schedule, football fever in Chapel Hill is catching on!

Might this be the year the Tar Heel faithful are thinking about football during basketball season?

Of course, this season is most likely an anomaly.  The basketball squad has suffered through a series of injuries and tough late second losses.  But under Coach Roy Williams the Heels will rebound and with a top recruiting class the Tar Heels will go into next season as a Top Ten pick.  And, who knows, this year’s team might even make a magical run during the ACC Basketball tournament.

But, for a short brief period in UNC’s history, this might be the only season ever in which the fans might be more excited about football than basketball.

Basketball will return quickly to glory.  But Coach Brown is building a program that promises to make fans excited for great football and not just a period to wait until basketball starts.

Yes, the world feels upside down in many ways!!  But for the Tar Heel faithful that may be a good thing as fans can be excited about the fortunes of both basketball and football.

About the Author

Matt Kupec is a fundraising professional with 32 years of significant higher education development experience. He has directed four major university fundraising campaigns and nearly $5 billion has been raised under his leadership. He has led the fundraising programs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Hofstra University, Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute and HelpMeSee, a New York City based non-profit. He is currently serving as Senior In-House Fundraising Counsel for Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, leading SIU’s recently extended campaign with an increased goal from $75 million to $200 million.

Matt is a former record-breaking four year starting quarterback for the UNC Tar Heels. During his career he set 19 season and career passing records. Two of which still stand — most consecutive games with a TD pass and most wins as a starting QB. Matt also set the ACC record for TD passes his senior year at UNC. Matt was named MVP of the 1977 Liberty Bowl and the 1979 Gator Bowl becoming the 1st player in Atlantic Coast Conference history to be named MVP of two bowl games.

Matt Kupec:  Another Hallmark Moment

Matt Kupec: Another Hallmark Moment

by Matt Kupec

December 27, 2019

I have had another Hallmark moment!

What, you might ask, is a Hallmark moment?

Well, I must confess that I have grown a fondness for Hallmark channel movies.  The channel which has the same sappy story line for every one of its movies – big city executive finds himself/herself in a very small community with an appealing charm that eventually will draw them away from the big city into the small town forever.

The charm of the small town is both the physical beauty of the town and the surroundings, and of the goodness of the people.

My first Hallmark moment came some forty years ago when I was introduced to Chapel Hill, NC when I attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Known widely as the quintessential college town with a population under 50,000, Chapel Hill had an appeal that endured well beyond my undergraduate days. I returned to Chapel Hill to lead the UNC fundraising program for over twenty years

A year ago, I started with the Southern Illinois University Foundation in Carbondale, Illinois as the in-house fundraising consultant to lead the fundraising program.  SIU was just one year away from completing a $75 million fundraising campaign but with great success has now announced a campaign extension with a new $200 million goal.

For me, Carbondale has become my second Hallmark moment.

What is special about Carbondale?

Small Town.  Carbondale is a small town with a population of 25,902 residents.  It is located in the very southern part of Illinois, some 300 miles away from Chicago to the far north.  The downtown is small but charming.  Carbondale is a bustling community of unusual shops, diverse commerce, cultural activities, and many other luxuries that would be expected in a large city, yet it maintains the comforts and charm of a small town. The city is the most populous in Southern Illinois outside the St Louis Metro-East region.

The Region.  By the time of the American Civil War, Carbondale had developed as a regional center for transportation and business, surrounded by agricultural development.  This part of Illinois was known as “Little Egypt”” because of the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, where the town of Cairo is located.  There are an abundance of lakes and parks in the area and the Shawnee National Forest is one America’s great treasures.

A recent highlight for the region was that Carbondale fell smack in the middle of the total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017.   The Carbondale area will be the path of the totality of the solar eclipse of April 8, 2024, making it only a handful of cities within the direct paths of both eclipses.

Beautiful Campus.  My first stop in Carbondale was to visit the Southern Illinois University Carbondale campus.  What a beautiful campus!  It reminded me of the beautiful campus at UNC-Chapel Hill.  Truly one of the prettiest campuses I have seen.  The SIU campus has 1,133 acres of trees and grass and a natural hardwood forest right on the campus.  It even has a beautiful lake on campus.  SIU is the first University in Illinois to earn Level II Arboretum Accreditation.

Friendly People.  I have found the people in Carbondale to be very friendly and welcoming.  I had heard for years about how nice people from the Midwest were but I had never spent much time in the Midwest.  I have found the people to be very nice and friendly.  There is a spirit here that permeates the entire region – a grit, a determination, and a sense of pride.

Moving Forward.  The Southern Illinois region, long dependent on the coal industry, is experiencing a transformation as it builds tourism, healthcare, and higher education sectors for the region and beyond.  SIU Carbondale will serve as an economic engine in this great transformation.  Combining that with the sheer beauty of the land and of its quality of its people give me great hope that some really wonderful days are ahead for Southern Illinois.

Maybe someday Hallmark will make Carbondale the feature of one its movies.  For me, that Hallmark moment has already arrived.

About the Author

Matt Kupec is a fundraising professional with 32 years of significant higher education development experience. He has directed four major university fundraising campaigns and nearly $5 billion has been raised under his leadership. He has led the fundraising programs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Hofstra University, Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute and HelpMeSee, a New York City based non-profit. He is currently serving as Senior In-House Fundraising Counsel for Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, leading SIU’s recently extended campaign with an increased goal from $75 million to $200 million.

Matt is a former record-breaking four year starting quarterback for the UNC Tar Heels. During his career he set 19 season and career passing records. Two of which still stand — most consecutive games with a TD pass and most wins as a starting QB. Matt also set the ACC record for TD passes his senior year at UNC. Matt was named MVP of the 1977 Liberty Bowl and the 1979 Gator Bowl becoming the 1st player in Atlantic Coast Conference history to be named MVP of two bowl games.

 

Highly successful leader in securing philanthropy and private equity

Matt Kupec:

  • Fundraising professional with 30+ years of senior management experience at major organizations
  • Significant track record of increasing philanthropic support
  • Built best-in-class, nationally recognized operations
  • Nearly $5 billion has been raised under his leadership

Who is Matt Kupec?

Matt Kupec has led major fundraising operations at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Hofstra University (Hempstead, NY), the Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute (Tampa, FL) and NY-based non-profit HelpMeSee.

The key to Matt’s success in leading the teams of these very major and complex organizations is that he fully understands the importance of collaboration and collegiately in building a team fundraising approach in an organization.

During his tenure leading the fundraising teams at these important organizations, Matt Kupec has managed thousands of team and staff members.  Leadership is about getting the individuals to join together under a shared vision, with a common set of goals and objectives, creating an office environment of collegiately and collaboration, and pushing all to reach new heights.  This has been the trademark of Matt’s successful leadership.

The creation of the “total team fundraising approach” has manifested itself in the record breaking results that have been recorded.  At UNC, cash flow grew from $62M to $300M during Matt Kupec’s tenure. UNC was the recipient of 12 Council for the Support & Advancement of Education (CASE) Outstanding Fundraising Performance awards, the most received of any University during that time.  At Moffitt, fundraising skyrocketed from $13 million to $37 million in one year, a remarkable 250% increase in just the first twelve months!

Matt has always been a leader throughout his life.  Born and raised in Syosset, NY on Long Island as the middle child of seven children of Bill and Helen Kupec, Matt, enjoyed a prolific high school career as an outstanding student-athlete.  A three sport star – football, basketball and baseball – Matt Kupec earned many honors and awards including prep All-American in football where he led his Syosset HS football squad to an undefeated season and #1 ranking as the top High School team in the entire New York state.

With many full scholarship offers to choose from following his successful football career, Matt chose to accept a full scholarship to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill because of its high academic standing and strong football program.  

At UNC, Matt Kupecwas the starting quarterback for four years and led the Tar Heels to bowl games in three of the four seasons.   He was named Most Valuable Player in the Liberty and Gator Bowls.

Matt set 19 season and career passing records while a UNC quarterback.  In fact, two of those records – most consecutive games throwing a touchdown pass and most wins as a starting quarterback – remain standing nearly 40 years after his playing career.  Matt Kupec earned a reputation for being a “winner” during his UNC career.

All of these experiences – large family, three-sport athlete who was the pitcher in baseball, the point guard in basketball and the quarterback in football – have contributed to Matt’s passion for building the team approach to fundraising.  One of Matt’s favorite expressions deals with leadership and the importance of building team, “if you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, we must go together.”

Those words have inspired and motivated countless number of staff members who have worked for Matt Kupec and helped to bring the results that have positively impacted the lives of thousands of students, faculty and patients across this country to work for a better society.

Check out Matt Kupec’s latest post!

Matt Kupec:  Thank Goodness for Florida’s Football Stadiums

Matt Kupec: Thank Goodness for Florida’s Football Stadiums

by Matt Kupec January 16, 2021 Watching the recent College Football Game featuring Alabama and Ohio State at Hard Rock Cafe Stadium in Miami, Florida was a joy!  And a throwback!  Open seating stadium with no dome, natural grass playing surface and the sounds and...