Army rugby center funding plan

Abstract

We seek to apply the systems engineering process to one of West Point's Association of Graduates (AOG) fundraising project. The United States Military Academy (USMA) receives a substantial portion of its funding from the federal government, yet must look to outside sources to underwrite the cost of some projects. The proposed rugby center is one of these projects. USMA's rugby team consistently finishes within the top four schools in the nation, but it lacks an adequate training facility. We examine the process used to raise the money to fund such a facility. Fundraising is often thought of as an art, rather than a systematic process. Despite the delicate nature of fundraising, it can still benefit from a detailed systems engineering examination. We seek to bring together the art of fundraising and the mechanics of systems engineering to produce a better result.