Operators promise turnkey compliance and fundraising scale. Not all deliver. Use structured evaluation before multi-year contracts.
Financial Transparency
Request fee schedules: percentage of donations, flat SaaS fees, payment processing margins. Model three-year costs at current and projected fundraising levels. Ask for references from similar-sized schools, not only flagship clients.
Compliance Infrastructure
- Contract template update cadence and legal review ownership.
- Integration with university disclosure portals.
- Recruit and transfer pre-clearance workflows.
- Audit trails and data retention policies.
Conflict Management
If the operator serves conference rivals, review contractual firewalls and data segregation practices. Understand whether employees rotate across accounts.
Exit Strategy
Negotiate data portability, athlete payment continuity, and donor list ownership on termination. Avoid lock-in without escrow for in-flight athlete obligations.
Security
Request SOC 2 reports or equivalent, PCI compliance for payments, and incident response history.
Track operator announcements via On3 and verify marketing claims against reference calls.