The Association of Former Students Donor Badge
By Josh Oelze
December 11, 2012
aggienetwork.com
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TexAgs is excited to formally announce the new Association of Former Students donor tag. Starting today, you can show your continued support for Texas A&M by validating your Association donor status and displaying our new ring "badge" next to your username.
You can go to the Association Donor Verification page to get set up right now! If you have any questions, be sure to check out the Association's FAQ.
Additionally, as many of you know, our AgTag verification process has been troubling over the years. It has been a manual process that required excessive personal information from you and a lot of time and resources on our end. Even with all that effort, we have received a number of reports of non-Ags receiving tags. With the purpose of bettering that process and providing greater confidence in its outcome, we will begin using The Association’s verification process for all future AgTags and re-verification of current AgTags. Your current AgTag will continue to be valid until February 2013, but be sure to run through the re-verification when you have a chance.
Verifying your AFS donor status automatically renews your AgTag at the same time, but you do not need to be a AFS donor to verify your AgTag.
We are excited about this additional partnership with the Association of Former Students and what it means to furthering the support and promotion of our great University within the TexAgs community.
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Discussion from...
1:14p, 12/11/12
doesn't let me do it since you guys banned my normal email address, which is tied to my association email
Sponsor
1:17p, 12/11/12
Good work on this, Josh. We’re excited, too.
Here is a mini-FAQ with some key points, and attempts to anticipate some likely questions:
MOST IMPORTANT POINT: You have to initiate verification through the TexAgs account page. It will not just happen automatically.
MOST LIKELY SOURCE OF AG TAG VERIFICATION FAILURE IS...
Your email address on your TexAgs account does not match your email address on your AggieNetwork.com account. They have to match exactly.
MOST LIKELY REASONS YOUR DONOR TAG DOES NOT APPEAR IMMEDIATELY AFTER YOUR DONATION ARE...
1. You have not gone back to the TexAgs account page and re-verified.
2. You weren't logged into AggieNetwork.com at the time you made the donation. If that happens, you have to wait while we manually link your donation to your account. Email us at Web@AggieNetwork.com or PM me and we'll try to speed that up. Please include name and class year.
3. You made a gift for 2013 instead of 2012. A 2012 gift starts now and expires one year from now. A 2013 gift starts 1/1/13 and expires 12/31/13. If you did a 2013 gift and want it changed to 2012, PM me or email Web@AggieNetwork.com. Please include name and class year.
4. Are you a joint donor with your spouse? We may have to manually intervene to make sure the gift is credited to both people. If you think that may be the problem, PM me or email Web@AggieNetwork.com. Please include name and class year.
GENERAL INFO
• The Ag Tag and the Association Donor Tag (the ring badge) are two different things with a single verification process. Only current and former students can get the Ag Tag, which gets you access to selected forums on TexAgs. Only our donors can get the Association Donor Tag (the ring badge), which is just bling. The Donor Tag shows your support of A&M and The Association but does not get you any special access on TexAgs.
• You do not have to be a donor to get an Ag Tag.
• The verification process is not automatic; you must initiate the process via the link on your TexAgs account page at texags.com/account.
• If your first attempt at verification fails, and you fix the problem (update your email address, make a donation or whatever) you then have to initiate verification again (just visit the TexAgs account page and it will attempt to re-verify). It's not automatic.
DONOR TAG INFO
• You do not have to be a current or former student to get a Donor Tag (ring badge).
• Making a donation won’t get you an Ag Tag unless you are also a current or former student.
• The minimum donation for an Association Donor Tag is $50 a year. You can spread your donation over multiple small payments; just use the “recurring donation” option on the donation page.
• You must have donated within the past year to be considered an active donor.
• Donations ($50+) to an Aggie Ring Scholarship or a Memorial Scholarship qualify, in addition to donations to the Annual Fund.
• Easiest way to check your donor status is to go to AggieNetwork.com, log in, then click on your name at top center. On the next page, your donor status will appear at top right. If you are a current donor, it will say something like, “Your active status will expire on Apr 03, 2013.”
• If you are logged into your AggieNetwork.com account when you make a donation, your donor status is updated immediately. If you aren't logged in, the donation has to go through gift processing to get matched to your AggieNetwork.com account, so it will be a day or so before your donor status is updated (possibly more, depending on how many instances of this there are). Email us at Web@AggieNetwork.com or PM me and we'll try to speed that up. Please include name and class year.
NEED HELP?
The FAQ at tx.ag/texagsfaq includes links to:
Donate.
Create an AggieNetwork.com account if you have never done so.
Reset your AggieNetwork.com password if you’ve forgotten it.
Submit a biographical data form if you are not in our database but should be.
If the verification process (either for an Ag Tag or Donor Tag or both) is not working for you, please read the FAQ on our site at tx.ag/texagsfaq. If you continue to have trouble verifying or have further questions, please DM me (Scot) on TexAgs or email our webmaster, Mike Smith, at Web@AggieNetwork.com. Please include name and class year.
__________________________________________________________
Scot Walker '90 | Director of Communications
The Association of Former Students | Texas A&M University
AggieNetwork@AggieNetwork.com
(979) 845-7514
[This message has been edited by The Association (edited 12/11/2012 2:01p).]
Here is a mini-FAQ with some key points, and attempts to anticipate some likely questions:
MOST IMPORTANT POINT: You have to initiate verification through the TexAgs account page. It will not just happen automatically.
MOST LIKELY SOURCE OF AG TAG VERIFICATION FAILURE IS...
Your email address on your TexAgs account does not match your email address on your AggieNetwork.com account. They have to match exactly.
MOST LIKELY REASONS YOUR DONOR TAG DOES NOT APPEAR IMMEDIATELY AFTER YOUR DONATION ARE...
1. You have not gone back to the TexAgs account page and re-verified.
2. You weren't logged into AggieNetwork.com at the time you made the donation. If that happens, you have to wait while we manually link your donation to your account. Email us at Web@AggieNetwork.com or PM me and we'll try to speed that up. Please include name and class year.
3. You made a gift for 2013 instead of 2012. A 2012 gift starts now and expires one year from now. A 2013 gift starts 1/1/13 and expires 12/31/13. If you did a 2013 gift and want it changed to 2012, PM me or email Web@AggieNetwork.com. Please include name and class year.
4. Are you a joint donor with your spouse? We may have to manually intervene to make sure the gift is credited to both people. If you think that may be the problem, PM me or email Web@AggieNetwork.com. Please include name and class year.
GENERAL INFO
• The Ag Tag and the Association Donor Tag (the ring badge) are two different things with a single verification process. Only current and former students can get the Ag Tag, which gets you access to selected forums on TexAgs. Only our donors can get the Association Donor Tag (the ring badge), which is just bling. The Donor Tag shows your support of A&M and The Association but does not get you any special access on TexAgs.
• You do not have to be a donor to get an Ag Tag.
• The verification process is not automatic; you must initiate the process via the link on your TexAgs account page at texags.com/account.
• If your first attempt at verification fails, and you fix the problem (update your email address, make a donation or whatever) you then have to initiate verification again (just visit the TexAgs account page and it will attempt to re-verify). It's not automatic.
DONOR TAG INFO
• You do not have to be a current or former student to get a Donor Tag (ring badge).
• Making a donation won’t get you an Ag Tag unless you are also a current or former student.
• The minimum donation for an Association Donor Tag is $50 a year. You can spread your donation over multiple small payments; just use the “recurring donation” option on the donation page.
• You must have donated within the past year to be considered an active donor.
• Donations ($50+) to an Aggie Ring Scholarship or a Memorial Scholarship qualify, in addition to donations to the Annual Fund.
• Easiest way to check your donor status is to go to AggieNetwork.com, log in, then click on your name at top center. On the next page, your donor status will appear at top right. If you are a current donor, it will say something like, “Your active status will expire on Apr 03, 2013.”
• If you are logged into your AggieNetwork.com account when you make a donation, your donor status is updated immediately. If you aren't logged in, the donation has to go through gift processing to get matched to your AggieNetwork.com account, so it will be a day or so before your donor status is updated (possibly more, depending on how many instances of this there are). Email us at Web@AggieNetwork.com or PM me and we'll try to speed that up. Please include name and class year.
NEED HELP?
The FAQ at tx.ag/texagsfaq includes links to:
Donate.
Create an AggieNetwork.com account if you have never done so.
Reset your AggieNetwork.com password if you’ve forgotten it.
Submit a biographical data form if you are not in our database but should be.
If the verification process (either for an Ag Tag or Donor Tag or both) is not working for you, please read the FAQ on our site at tx.ag/texagsfaq. If you continue to have trouble verifying or have further questions, please DM me (Scot) on TexAgs or email our webmaster, Mike Smith, at Web@AggieNetwork.com. Please include name and class year.
__________________________________________________________
Scot Walker '90 | Director of Communications
The Association of Former Students | Texas A&M University
AggieNetwork@AggieNetwork.com
(979) 845-7514
[This message has been edited by The Association (edited 12/11/2012 2:01p).]
1:18p, 12/11/12
Change your association email to the one you have on texags for a few minutes to verify, then change it back.
That's what I did.
That's what I did.
Staff
1:22p, 12/11/12
AquaCasaAg, just a heads up... your donor badge will automatically be re-checked routinely to insure you are still an AFS donor within the last 12-months. If the addresses don't match, this re-check will fail and the badge will be removed.
[This message has been edited by ooshwa (edited 12/11/2012 1:22p).]
[This message has been edited by ooshwa (edited 12/11/2012 1:22p).]
3:33p, 12/11/12
Good Bull!!! Been lucky enough to have been around long enough to have been involved with the Aggie football team in John David Crow Heisman year to being able to witness Johnny Manzeil win it again. National Championship for the cherry on the cake!!!
3:49p, 12/11/12
Does this mean I have to use the same email address for my TexAgs account that I use with the Association?
Does TexAgs STAFF have access to my real name and contact info if I verify Association or TMF status through TexAgs?
Does TexAgs STAFF have access to my real name and contact info if I verify Association or TMF status through TexAgs?
Staff
3:59p, 12/11/12
Yes, your email addresses must match.
Yes, to obtain an AgTag, AFS Donor Tag, or 12thMan Tag you are divulging your real name to TexAgs. This has always been the case for AgTags.
These verifications, of course, are completely optional.
edit: I should add: this information is only available on a "NEED TO KNOW" basis within the TexAgs organization is not shared with other organizations.
[This message has been edited by ooshwa (edited 12/11/2012 4:09p).]
Yes, to obtain an AgTag, AFS Donor Tag, or 12thMan Tag you are divulging your real name to TexAgs. This has always been the case for AgTags.
These verifications, of course, are completely optional.
edit: I should add: this information is only available on a "NEED TO KNOW" basis within the TexAgs organization is not shared with other organizations.
[This message has been edited by ooshwa (edited 12/11/2012 4:09p).]