This summer, UTSA Athletics will be profiling its numerous areas to provide an inside look into how each unit serves Roadrunners’ student-athletes.
In this edition, we sat down with Ashley Poronsky, Senior Associate Athletics Director for Development/Strategy, to discuss the Development unit.
Q: How does your department service UTSA student-athletes?
Ashley Poronsky: “The Roadrunner Athletic Fund and the development area at UTSA serve student-athletes by working with donors to find what their passions are and match them with the sport or the project that they care most about, and gain resources for those specialized projects.”
Q: What roles do the members of your team serve?
Ashley Poronsky: “The areas that we serve are leadership giving and the McCombs Society, which are $25,000 or more gifts that can be pledged over five years. Those generally help support capital projects, but they can help support excellence funds for sports as well as the Roadrunner Athletic Fund. The Roadrunner Athletic Fund supports our scholarships and the daily resources that our student-athletes need to excel. We support a lot of the sports and their endeavors, as well as the Title IX Opportunity Fund, which helps us provide special technology, equipment and experiences for any of those qualifying sports. Our staff works on various email appeals and projects that go out to our donors, as well as having one-on-one meetings. We welcome having coffee or lunch with any of our donors to explain where their resources go. We work directly with all of our donors to ensure they are having a great experience. Our staff also puts together stewardship events and gifting programs to make sure that all of our members know how important they are to us.”
Q: What makes UTSA a leader in your area?
Ashley Poronsky: “I think UTSA Athletics and our development staff is always looking for a new way to service our student-athletes via resources. We have come up with some innovative events like our Pickleball Tournament to raise resources for the Title IX Opportunity Fund. We are always very personable and we are always willing to have those one-on-one conversations. It’s very personal to us; our donors have become our friends and family. Over time, we’ve really gotten to know them. I think that’s pretty special.”
Q: You were involved with leading the creation of the UTSA Athletics Hall of Fame. How impactful has that been?
Ashley Poronsky: “At the time, we had 42 years of history that had not really been celebrated. We thought that it was very important to look back and celebrate those people who have really put UTSA on the map. We were really glad to induct the first six members, who were really special to the foundation of UTSA Athletics, and we’re looking forward to another five this year. I think we’ve seen that those people have become even more engaged in UTSA and are giving back their time, talent and resources to make this place even better.”
Q: What is something about your department that people may not know?
Ashley Poronsky: “I think just that we’re relationship-focused and there’s so much more that we can do to connect people with what we’re doing here. There’s a lot of community connectivity. We’re very much a family. We come together and celebrate at games and events. We connect donors with student-athletes and coaches, and really build community. That’s probably the most important thing that we do that people may not understand. If someone is looking for community and involvement, this is a great way to give back time, talent and treasure, and to build friendships that last a lifetime. There’s a place for them to come spend time and be together.”
Q: What advice do you have for students or student-athletes who may be interested in going into your profession?
Ashley Poronsky: “First of all, we have some internships where they can come and shadow. They can get as much out of it as they want to. They can help us with hospitality and it helps them learn all of the roles in an athletics department. It helps them understand donor relations and community relations, and how everything works within the university. I would say to young people that it’s important to find an opportunity like that if they want to be in this industry. It’s very competitive, so they need to have time spent in this area because if they’re going to get only the education piece, they’re going to have a hard time finding a job in the industry without serving some volunteer or some internship hours.”
Q: What type of educational background is required for your role?
Ashley Poronsky: “There’s really not a specific educational background. A lot of it has to do with having an outgoing personality, someone who is a hard-worker and someone who is willing to put in a lot of long hours, because we certainly do that.”