When he initially came up with the concept of the Sun Devil Halo Club, Arizona State alumnus Mark Arshinkoff felt it necessary to create a "BHAG" (pronounced Bee-hag, an acronym which stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goal), a concept initially conceived by James Collins and Jerry Porras in their 1996 article entitled Building Your Company's Vision.

How about a goal of establishing the nation's longest continuous Men's College Basketball home sellout streak at Arizona State's Wells Fargo Arena?

That would certainly qualify as audacious. Whether it's realistic or not isn't exactly the point.

Arshinkoff's BHAG is designed to stimulate progress and put into action a plan that will benefit the community at large and the Sun Devil Nation by encouraging the school's boosters to purchase season tickets in the upper ring of Wells Fargo Arena -- tickets which would then be donated to various local charitable groups supporting underprivileged children.

"I realized I wanted to do something that had a deeper purpose, was scalable, that would help change the culture towards Athletics donations while attempting to create a new tradition at ASU," Arshinkoff said. " In short, I wanted a program to appeal equally to ASU Alumni: men and women; young and old; living near and far; and give a reason to donate year after year after year. I also wanted a purpose for giving that went beyond raising money simply to offset education costs of ASU Athletes."

Donation levels to the program are from $100 and upwards. The higher the donation levels, the greater number of children the Halo Club will be able to send to games, which in turn will increase the competitiveness of the men's basketball program. Corporate donations at the Gold ($10,000), Maroon ($5,000) or Halo Level ($2,500) are also encouraged.

"I think the Halo Club is a very creative idea to help young people attend games who otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity," said Herb Sendek, ASU men's basketball coach. "Mark Arshinkoff and Eric Menkhus have done a great job, together with some others, of putting together this group who's intent on helping fill Wells Fargo, providing opportunities to people who otherwise may not have them to come to games and enjoy a night out."

Launched in 2006 with a focus on football games, the Halo Club was able to sell 250 season tickets with no advance marketing. This year's goal is to sell 2,500 season tickets to men's basketball games, and have each season ticket used by at least six different children over the course of a 19-game home schedule. This would result in nearly 15,000 Phoenix-area children being positively impacted.

"The Halo Club gives donors an opportunity to have a direct impact on three distinct and important levels," according to ASU Vice President of Athletics Lisa Love. "First, men's basketball games are affected through increased attendance and a loud, fun environment. Second, the community is impacted because kids are being exposed to higher education and intercollegiate athletics at early and formative stages of their lives. And last, but definitely not least, the 500 plus student athletes at ASU are impacted through generous private donations. I hope current donors and those not yet involved with Sun Devil athletics get involved in the Halo Club because of its wide-reaching and diverse areas of impact."

Importantly, the Halo Club is not a separate entity from the Sun Devil Club. It is, in part, an effort to broaden the reach an impact of the Sun Devil Club by building a new tradition at ASU basketball games, supporting the community through ASU Alumni donations and increase membership.

The money raised goes to Sun Devil Club scholarship fund, so it's helping all of the University's student-athletes be the best they can be in the classroom.

Season ticket donations made to the Halo Club are considered to be donations to the Sun Devil Club, and are tax deductible. ASU is currently ranked 8th in the Pac 10 for annual giving; the Halo Club would impact the department with upwards of an additional $250,000 in tax deductible chartable contributions if its goals for the year are met.

Donations can be designated the charity of choice from among those participating in the program with ASU.

Charities such as the Big Brothers and Sisters of Central Phoenix, Boys and Girls Club Arizona Alliance and Valley of the Sun YMCA are primary recipients of the ticket donations.

"We are grateful to the Sun Angel Foundation for their generous gift, said Brian Hasslett, Big Brothers and Sisters President. "By enjoying a day of team spirit at ASU, perhaps our Little Brothers and Sisters will continue to strive for academic excellence so someday they can sit in the stands as students of the university."

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