The NIU Huskie Club will be seeking $130,000 in contributions for support of school athletics when it kicks off its 1988-89 fund-raising drive next month.

The new funds will help in alleviating the club’s $4,500 debt, NIU Huskie Club President Jim Braun said.

Balance figures from last month revealed the club’s 1987-88 income to be $117,000, while expenditures amounted to $121,655.

Braun said the debt problem is “typical of organizations of this sort.”

“We traditionally always have a cash flow problem at this time of year. There is nothing unique about this year in that respect,” he said.

NIU Athletic Director Gerald O’Dell agreed the deficit is not unusual.

“In a lot of businesses, you have expenditures based on projections. I have no problem with the debt,” he said.

Braun said his organization will start its new year on March 18, when 20 fundraising teams begin a month-long search for donors.

The 20 teams will be divided into two conferences, Braun said. Each team, composed of 10 players, will be asked to raise $65,000 in the campaign.

He said, “My job right now is to find key people in the community to head these teams as captains.”

Braun said he was joined by O’Dell and Women’s Associate Director Susie Pembroke-Jones in determining the $130,000 amount.

“This figure represents the contributed funds we need to generate from the private sector. Our private donors pick up the difference of what the university doesn’t foot us,” Braun said.

The contributions generally cover four needs, he said.

“Our first priority is scholarship grants. Then we worry about programmatic, equipment and purchasing, and operational needs,” he said.

To solicit support, Braun said he will be mailing letters “about the last week of February” to current and former donors.

He said the formal end of the fund-raiser will be the spring football game at noon on April 23. At that game, the winning team will be announced.

Braun said a prize for the winners has not yet been determined.