The CSUN athletic department announced on Monday the creation of the Matador Athletic Fund designed to invest money into CSUN athletics and college athletes via outside donations.

“A robust annual fund is vital to the long-term health and sustainability of the department,” CSUN Athletic Director Michael Izzi said in a statement. “We are especially excited to increase the resources we provide to our student-athletes.”

The fund’s goal is to collect donations from alumni and non-alumni in order to provide the college athletes at CSUN with resources they need to succeed both academically and athletically.

This comes off the heels of the passing of the Fair Pay to Play Act which was passed in Sept. 2019. This allows college athletes in California to be able to collect sponsorships and endorsements while still maintaining their athletic eligebility.

The department has launched a website for the fund that provides information and shows the impact their donations will have on the community of college athletes.

Some things the fund will be focusing on will be scholarship support, health and wellness, career and professional development, academic support services, facility enhancements and recruiting, according to the statement.

The athletic program is also incentivizing donations by offering benefits for a wide range of “giving levels” that range from $50 to $10,000. Benefits include access to the Matador Insider Newsletter and sticker packs and range to higher-end rewards like exclusive Zoom meetings with coaches and complimentary away game travel.

An endowment, which is a pool of money and assets that are reinvested by the founders, has also been established along with the fund. Only around 4% of a donation will be spent annually while the rest will be invested into the endowment. There is also information provided on how donations are tax-deductible via the CSUN Foundation, which is a nonprofit public benefit auxiliary for the school.