Funding the New Era of College Athletics
Two Auburn University Students to Launch AlmaBound; a New Fund-Raising Model Designed to Support Students and Student-Athletes Through Everyday Shopping
Recent Auburn University graduates William Ernharth (’25 Finance) and Michael Paster (’25 Media Studies) are gearing up for the launch of AlmaBound, a first-of-its-kind fund-raising platform that will allow alumni and fans to support their university through everyday purchases — at no extra cost.
AlmaBound, provides a unique way, through everyday shopping, for fans of college athletics to help fund the additional $20.5 million their favorite team’s athletic department will now need to raise in response to the ruling of a recent court case (House vs. NCAA) that enables athletic departments to share revenue directly with student-athletes.
The court ruling is a game-changer, ending decades of amateurism rules. This marks the beginning of a new era in college sports! And with that, Athletic Directors across the country are now having to ask their fans to “give more” at a time where most donors have already reached their maximum capacity to give.
How it Works
The AlmaBound affiliate marketing model is simple: users shop with their favorite brands through AlmaBound’s platform. “By visiting the AlmaBound website,” says Paster, “fans will have access to 100’s of brands where they can make their online purchases through a gateway that will allow affiliate marketing related commissions to be earned, collected, and then re-directed by AlmaBound to initiatives that support student-athletes. AlmaBound will be redirecting 90% of affiliate fees earned.”
Consumers shop like always but give like never before.
In today’s economic environment, AlmaBound provides an easy way for individuals to donate more without spending more. AlmaBound’s platform is designed for transparency — showing how everyday shopping is turning into real, measurable support.
This transaction has no cost to the consumer, they simply make one change in their buying behavior which is instead of going directly to a company’s webpage, they access the exact same company page through the AlmaBound store front where they conduct their business as usual. Consumers now become active donors by one simple change in behavior.
AlmaBound allows fans to become a donor at no extra cost.
AlmaBound will be promoted to Auburn fans first, with plans to immediately expand to all 16 SEC schools. Participating users will be able to view dashboards showing how much impact they’ve generated and how much has been raised per school. A national roll-out will soon follow.
Users will be able to see how much impact their purchases have generated, track where their support is going, and view school-specific pages highlighting total contributions. AlmaBound’s platform is being designed for transparency — making it easy to understand how everyday shopping is turning into real, measurable support for students and programs.
Businesses interested in being featured — especially alumni-owned or local to college towns — are encouraged to reach out. AlmaBound also assists small businesses in setting up affiliate programs if needed.
“Michael and I came to Auburn from different states, and we both fell in love with the community,” said Ernharth. “We wanted to build something that would allow us to give back. So, we engaged with Auburn’s New Venture Accelerator to start a business that would do just that.”
Originally conceived to help fund student-athletes and athletic programs, AlmaBound also enables users to direct proceeds from online shopping to a range of other university causes, including scholarships, academic departments, and student organizations.
How can Fans Help?
To start, PLEASE click on the AlmaBound link below to join the Launch List so that a notification can be sent when the storefront is ready for shopping. At this point the website is only a pre-launch landing page. However, the faster we can get site visits to the landing page pre-launch the faster we can add the brands our fans desire at launch.
CLICK HERE: Almabound – Turn your everyday shopping into Athlete support
The plan is for the full webstore to be available for shopping this summer at which point consumers will have access to 100’s of brands.
To learn more or to connect directly with co-founder William Ernharth, he can be reached at Will@AlmaBound.com.
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What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a performance-based advertising model in which businesses reward third-party platforms — like AlmaBound — for generating sales through referral links. When users shop via AlmaBound, a commission is generated with the vast majority of that commission (90%) being redirected to the school or cause the customer has selected. It’s a seamless way to turn everyday commerce into lasting campus support.