Inside Arizona State booster 'Nap' Lawrence's $1 million pledge to NIL

During Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham‘s introductory press conference, Arizona State alum Charles “Nap” Lawrence announced he’ll contribute $1 million to the Sun Angel Collective to help NIL opportunities for the Sun Devils.

Lawrence encouraged other fans to contribute to the Arizona State-focused NIL collective, which Arizona State Director of Athletics Ray Anderson also mentioned by name during the press conference.

“We didn’t have any idea that was coming,” Brittani Willett, who was recently hired as the executive director of the Sun Angel Collective, said last week in a Zoom interview. “… It came as a surprise and a very pleasant one.”

The moment involving Dillingham, who at 32 years old is the youngest FBS head coach, and the 82-year-old Lawrence, was a perfect storm for Sun Angel Collective.

“That’s like the best-case scenario for us,” Willett said. “To have that support, to have someone instilling that energy into our community and then have it followed up with this massive donation. I don’t think we could’ve crafted a better scenario. So it has really gotten the momentum going.

“Since then, we’ve seen an increase in our subscription donations and really kind of started kickstarting the collective and getting us where we need to be.”

In the first 24 hours after the press conference, Sun Angel Collective added 148 new members, who each committed a monthly contribution, according to Willett. It was the collective’s largest single-day increase in members.

Willett credited Lawrence’s commitment and Dillingham’s rallying cry that the program will need everyone’s support.

“We’ve had a few other significant donations, not at the level of Nap’s but something that’s gonna make an immediate impact,” she said.

When reached by phone, Lawrence declined to comment.

A sustainable plan for the NIL collective is ‘equally as important’

On Nov. 15, the Sun Angel Collective announced the hiring of Willett, who previously worked as the executive director of the Arizona Coyotes Foundation and corporate and community impact.

Her first month on the job became more eventful with Arizona State’s hiring of Dillingham and Lawrence’s seven-figure pledge. However, she said Sun Angel Collective is focused on the long-term sustainability of the collective following the major football and financial announcements.

“This is what we have to build from,” Willett said. “I will say also it’s important for us to be building out a sustainable program. As huge as it is to make the biggest impact we can in the next couple of weeks and we’re so excited that we’ve been able to kind of gain that momentum, for me, really the strategy of putting in a plan that is going to be sustainable is also equally as important.”

As NIL collectives have raised money around Giving Tuesday and with a focus on the opening of the Transfer Portal window, it’ll be critical that they identify sustainable approaches to fundraising.

In the fall, prior to Lawrence’s $1 million commitment, Sun Angel Collective President Jeff Burg told On3 that while he hoped the collective would receive a seven-figure contribution someday, he didn’t think those types of donations were sustainable alone.

He recently got his wish but Sun Angel Collective will try to raise funds through multiple avenues.

“When we talk about the best ways to raise money or the most efficient or sustainable ways to raise money in NIL, I think it’s a multifaceted approach,” he said. “I think you have to go after — and if you don’t, you’re leaving something on the table — a broad, subscription-based approach… you have to have that subscription-based approach that everyone can feel like they’re participating in some way.”

‘Nap’ Lawrence’s pledge led to increased donations

How will Sun Angel Collective try to maximize Lawrence’s contribution?

“That’s what I rely on the board for,” Willett said, laughing.

She said the Sun Angel Collective’s board members haven’t had any conversations yet about how the $1 million will be used to facilitate NIL opportunities. In addition to his proclamation at the press conference, Lawrence has had conversations with leaders of the Sun Angel Collective, Willett said.

“He wanted to make sure that we felt comfortable with everything and we had to work through some of the logistics and whatnot, and how that donation was going to be made,” Willett said. “He’s just fired up. His really instilling that in the community.

“He is involved in a lot of groups, so he’s been out there encouraging everybody else to participate at the level that they can and I think that’s been a big piece of why we’re seeing the increased donations, where they’re like, ‘Hey, I can’t give at a million-dollar level but I want to get involved, too.'”