I was tasked with creating 901 Fund, one of the first NIL Collective's in the country and the official NIL Collective for The University of Memphis. The development started with Clay Presley, my boss, Partner at SouthWorth Capital Management and UofM Alumni, had a vision and jumped on the opportunity to create a organization that could help support student-athletes while driving awareness to local charities. We created a website, social media accounts, and a brand to establish a name and mission. We created content to engage UofM Alumni and sport fans.
Establish a brand name, mission and create awareness. As any start-up you want to make sure your organization has the proper tools to reach audiences of all kinds to increase awareness. We started by creating a full, user-friendly website that shared our mission, values and vision. As well as a presence on every social media platform. Once that launched in March 2022, we went straight to media outlets, taking on all public relations and making sure our name was known throughout the city of Memphis. Our goal was to reach a certain demographic of UofM alumni that could help support the cause with a considerable donation or subscription.
Defining our relationships with student-athletes and local charities. As our momentum grew, we had more student-athletes that wanted to attend charity events and we had more organizations that wanted to be a part of it. In the first year, our team was able to make over 1,412 NIL Deals and establish 17 Charity Partnerships.
We gained a lot of awareness at the beginning of the basketball season after hosting a "Bowling with Basketball" event at Andy B's Bowling Alley. UofM fans, alumni, and families were able to buy tickets to bowl with players from both Men's and Women's Basketball teams. Alex Lomax announced his return at our event which also sparked a lot of attention. Kendirc Davis had just been recruited to Memphis as our new point guard after playing 3 years at SMU.
To host this event I personally sought out the Manager at Andy B's bowling alley and was offered an amazing price to rent out the VIP area which included soft drinks, pizza and a cash bar. Our team created graphics and call-outs to place on tables and walls so that people could scan a QR code and donate. I helped facilitate the interactions between the student-athletes and the fans.
Overall it was a huge success and put us on the map!
Once 901 Fund became national news and fans were supporting more to the cause we had to decide what our future would look like. In April of 2022 we had legally asked for 501(c)3 status, we waited over a year and ironically the NCAA itself dismissed the notion that collectives could not have 501(c)3 non-profit privileges so in the end, it worked out for us.
One of the larger roles I had during this experience was using my video and editing experience/skills to help build a larger audience. I used my own cameras, shotgun microphones and lights to conduct one on one interviews with student-athletes or promotional videos for the Charities we were involved with. After shooting, I would edit the raw video into a story that we posted on all platforms.
901 Fund became the official NIL Collective for University of Memphis in 2023 and continues to create opportunities for all student-athletes and bring awareness to local charities. I was honored to be a part of such an amazing team, the experience and the memories I will always cherish.
Today 901 Fund continues to run smoothly because of the hard-working and creative employees that were brought on to focus solely on their mission.
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