As the “Official NIL Partner of Texas A&M Athletics,” eligible contributions made to Texas Aggies United are able to receive priority points under the guidelines provided by the 12th Man Foundation. Donors who make eligible contributions to Texas Aggies United will earn four points for every $100 contributed. To learn more, visit 12th.info/prioritypoints-TAU
Priority Point Policy for Contributions to Texas Aggies United
As the "Official NIL Partner of Texas A&M Athletics," contributions made to Texas Aggies United are eligible to receive priority points under the guidelines outlined below. Donors who make eligible contributions to Texas Aggies United will earn four points for every $100 contributed.
Adoption and Implementation
The Priority Point Policy for contributions to Texas Aggies United was adopted by the 12th Man Foundation Board of Trustees on Nov. 15, 2024. Priority points will not be awarded for contributions made prior to the adoption date.
Eligibility
For priority points for contributions to Texas Aggies United to be eligible for related benefits, a donor’s account must be active by maintaining their 12th Man Foundation membership on an annual basis. Texas Aggies United must maintain and share the donor’s information and contribution details with the 12th Man Foundation. The following contribution types will be eligible for priority points:
• One Time and/or Subscription Contributions
• 1922 Apparel and/or Spirit 12 Investments
• Experience Contributions (Kickoff Camp, Hard Knocks, et al.)
• Other contributions approved by the 12th Man Foundation Board of Trustees
• Sweepstakes and memorabilia are excluded from eligibility.
Contribution Data Reporting and Application Schedule
Giving history from eligible Texas Aggies United contribution types will be provided to the 12th Man Foundation by Texas Aggies United's Professional Services Firm. Contribution data will be provided to the 12th Man Foundation on the following cadence and will be applied to donor accounts on the following dates. This schedule has been established by the 12th Man Foundation and does not allow for points to be awarded in real time but rather in arrears.
• Feb. 28, 2025 (Gifts made Nov. 15, 2024 - Feb. 23, 2025)
• May 23, 2025 (Gifts made Feb. 24, 2025 - May 18, 2025)
• Aug. 22, 2025 (Gifts made May 19, 2025 - Aug. 17, 2025)
• Oct. 24, 2025 (Gifts made Aug. 18, 2025 - Oct. 19, 2025)
• Jan. 15, 2026 (Gifts made Oct. 20, 2025 - Dec. 31, 2025)
Lifetime Giving
Please note, contributions made to Texas Aggies United do not accrue lifetime giving to the 12th Man Foundation.
Key Notes from interview with Texas Aggies United President JT Higgins
- It’s huge. It’s probably the biggest, most impactful thing that we could do for our organization and the athletic department as a whole. We’re so grateful for the 12th Man Foundation for making this happen. Their Board of Trustees and leadership really came through for us in putting this together. We made sure we were in compliance with state laws, with NCAA rules, with university policy. We made sure we did it right, and now, going forward, it’s going to make a major difference in the funds that we can raise. It gives people the opportunity to earn priority points by giving directly to Texas Aggies United, which a lot of coaches will tell you is really a way — maybe the most impactful way — to help their programs right now.
- For every $25 you give, you get one priority point, just like you give to the 12th Man Foundation or if you give to Texas Aggies United. It gives the donors an option, and they get to decide exactly where they want their money to go, which I think everybody thinks is the best way.
- I think we’re really fortunate that we have great leadership in all of these positions. You have the 12th Man Foundation, the athletic department, the university, Texas A&M Sports Properties. TexAgs has been instrumental in what we’re doing. Everybody is working together to make sure we’re successful. They realize the impact that NIL has on our athletics programs and how important that is going to be going forward. Everyone has come together to make it a success, and I think we’re really fortunate to have that kind of leadership.
- Every single “Power 4” school is dealing with NIL and the fallout of House v. NCAA right now. There is no doubt about it. We’re all in the same boat. The House settlement is a plan going forward. It is not set in stone. It has not been decided. It still has to get final approval from the judge in April, and it’s going to get a lot of challenges. I just saw the Vanderbilt quarterback (Diego Pavia) is suing because he wants his JUCO eligibility back. All of those kinds of things still factor in, so we need to keep doing business as usual. We’re still raising as much money as we possibly can to ensure that our programs are successful. Going forward, if the House settlement all gets put into play, it will start in July. It is not NIL. It is revenue sharing. It is pay-for-play, but NIL will still exist. That’s going to be a difference-maker from program to program. How well can you support the NIL program on top of the revenue sharing?
- It’s a new world, and the dollar amounts, to be honest, were staggering at first to me. Then it kind of becomes, “OK, what’s the number? What do we have to raise?” Then you get after it, and everyone gets to work. What do we need to do, and how do we accomplish our goal? We don’t do anything without talking to our coaches, the athletic department and the 12th Man Foundation. Everyone knows what’s going on and what we’re trying to do. It is not JT Higgins deciding how we’re spending the money. There is definitely a plan in place, and a lot of people a lot smarter than me are leading the way. With that part, it’s not as “wild west” as you think it is. There is a lot of organization.
- There are a lot of athletes on our teams here who could be making more money at other places, but they want to be here. That’s the thing that is the key for all of our coaches is finding athletes who want to be part of Texas A&M, part of their programs and realize that we are going to take care of them.
- Our NIL program is working, and we're working hard with the coaches, the athletic department and the 12th Man Foundation to make sure that it’s successful. There is some great leadership going on that is making sure that we’re going in the right direction.
- The toughest question I get asked almost on a daily basis is, “How are we doing?” We’ve been so fortunate that we’ve had people step up from day one who have supported us along the way and made sure that we’ve been successful to this point. We need to expand that base. We need more people to invest in Texas Aggies United. We need more people to subscribe and become members at the different levels that we have. It’s going to take everybody pulling together to get there, but with the leadership we have in place, this new announcement from the 12th Man Foundation, with what the athletic department under Trev Alberts is doing, the answer is, “Yes, I think that we have everything in place to be successful, but we need every Aggie’s support to be successful.” We just need investment. That’s what we need.
- We have signing day coming up in two or three weeks. The transfer portal opens up on Dec. 9. I’m pretty sure that Ryan Brauninger was talking about it earlier and saying that every freshman that we’re signing is going to come early in January. We have to be ready for all of that. Once they become student-athletes, they can start receiving NIL opportunities. We need to be ready for that, and we need people to step up and get ready. It has been a successful year in a lot of ways at Texas A&M. If we want that to continue, we need to keep doing what we’re doing to keep raising money. We need people to step up and help us to the best that they can.
- There are three challenges that seem to pop up for me all the time. Number one is that so many people don’t want to buy into NIL. Whether they don’t like athletes getting paid, or they don’t want to contribute to it, or they don’t like the way that it’s done, that's insane. We have a stadium that holds 100,000 people, and we don’t want to pay the talent? I am against that. I think that they deserve to be paid. They are the reason that all of those people are there, and they deserve to profit off their Name, Image & Likeness. The courts agree, and we live in America. People are worth whatever the market says they’re worth. Number two: I don’t like the lack of transparency as much as anybody. I wish I knew how much others are spending, but we can’t put that out there if nobody else is putting it out there. They’re also still college athletes, and there are all sorts of laws that protect their right to privacy and all of those kinds of things. We’re very careful about those things, and we’re not going to say anything that we’re not supposed to say. The third challenge is really the reactive nature of sport. We lose a football game, and all of a sudden, our NIL program is not successful. I understand that we need to do everything better. Coaches understand that, and even players understand that. That’s why you see coaches all stick to the process. They don’t worry about results; they worry about the process because the results will all take care of themselves. We’re in the same boat. We know we need to do better in a lot of areas, but at the same time, one loss doesn’t mean that we haven’t done the job the way it’s supposed to be done. People need to realize that. We’ve put together a great program, and we’re doing the absolute best that we can.
- When it comes to what I’m most proud of, we talked about one of the biggest ones: The relationships between all of the different entities. I feel like it’s strong. I really like how well we work with the 12th Man Foundation. They’ve just been huge for us, whether it’s introductions to people who can help or inviting me to any major thing that they have going on. I’m proud of the response that we’ve had from the Aggie community. People wanted the ability to have one-time donations. We made that happen. People wanted the ability to give to a specific sport. We made that happen. Priority points is another huge development. I think that we’ve responded whenever people have said, “If you do this, I’ll be more supportive.” We’re doing everything we can to make it as easy for people to support Texas Aggies United as possible.
- If you have questions, we have info@texasaggiesunited.com. Just send an email. We respond to most of them. Every once in a while, we get a question that’s just so outlandish that we just let it go and don’t respond to it, but for the most part, we will get back to you. We’re still not a huge staff, so it might take a couple of days. We usually get back to people in a pretty timely manner. That’s the best way, and then the website, TexasAggiesUnited.com, if you want to give, if you want to support. That’s a great place to start.
- I’m thrilled by this announcement from the 12th Man Foundation. The announcement is huge going forward. There are so many people who are going to help us because of this. Even more than that, I’m fired up for the success that the athletic programs have had. This is a real impact that people have made. If you’ve given to Texas Aggies United or given to the 12th Man Foundation, you have made a difference in all of our athletic programs. Our coaches and the success that they’re having, it has been great.
