When it comes to raising money for college and university athletic programs, every professional knows how the game is played. Tickets drive the bus. In exchange for gifts, donors typically pay seat-licensing fees. This kind of "quid pro quo" giving--where generous contributions put one in position to buy good tickets--is a very common model," says Tim Seiler, director of the Fund Raising School at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. This model--"ticket pro quo," as some fundraisers call it--has helped universities pay for multimillion-dollar stadiums, coaches' salaries, and rising tuition and scholarship costs. However, not every institution's sports program relies on "ticket pro quo" to attract donor dollars. Telling the stories of student athletes can also be an effective way for many different kinds of institutions to raise funds. For some smaller and nontraditional schools, the "story model," as Susan Peirce, Florida Atlantic University's vice president for campaigns, calls it, has helped fill the ticket void. At the FAU campus, Peirce often invites community leaders to practices and encourages them to mingle with athletes. As these leaders hear the stories of students, they see that donor dollars fund more than good seats.