Staff Directory
Jacob Watson
- Title:
- Assistant Athletic Director, Annual Giving
- Email:
- Phone:
- 865-5513
Watson was promoted to his current role of Assistant Athletic Director for Annual Giving in December 2024. In his new role, he is responsible for leading the department’s annual giving program, including oversight of Green Wave Club solicitation strategy, donor retention, donor acquisition, and stewardship. He also has a leadership role in developing strategies to grow support for the Green Wave Talent Fund and oversees the Tulane Letterwinners Association.
Since arriving in Uptown, Watson has played a key role in the Green Wave Club’s strongest annual fund years, driving several fundraising successes, including Green Wave Club membership surpassing 4,000 members for the first time in department history in FY26 and setting a departmental record of $3.915 million unrestricted cash raised in FY25. He continues to lead department efforts around Give Green, Tulane’s university-wide day of giving, setting records for both individual donor contributions and dollars raised for consecutive years in 2025 and 2026. On Give Green 2026, Tulane Athletics received more than $1 million in contributions from more than 1,200 individual donors, marking the first time any school or unit surpassed $1 million raised and 1,000 donor thresholds in the nine-year history of Give Green.
In 2025, Watson spearheaded efforts to relaunch Tulane Athletics’ Pledge Per Win Drives, raising more than $45,000 in the initiative’s first year. In 2024, he oversaw the revamping of the Tulane Letterwinners Association, where every former student-athlete is recognized as a Tulane Letterwinners Association member upon departure from Tulane, resulting in renewed engagement and membership increasing by over 4,000 members.
Watson joined Tulane as the Assistant Director of Development in July 2022. In his previous role, he maintained daily internal operations for the Green Wave Club, while soliciting annual fund and major gift donations in support of Tulane Athletics' 17 varsity programs.
Watson earned his bachelor's degree in Sport Management from Eastern Kentucky University in 2020. Afterwards, he went on to earn his master's degree in Sport Administration from the University of Louisville in 2022. While attending Louisville, he was the President of the UofL Sport Administration Association and a member of the Louisville Athletics Internship Program, working in both development and compliance.
Watson was named the 2025 Athletic Department Staff Member of the Year, in recognition of his contributions to the department, and the professionalism and positivity he carries himself with. He was also a recipient of the Office of Advancement’s first-ever Swell Awards for Outstanding Performance, an award given annually to recognize Tulane Advancement employees who display extraordinary effort and commitment and represent high achievement in their contributions to the department.
Since arriving in Uptown, Watson has played a key role in the Green Wave Club’s strongest annual fund years, driving several fundraising successes, including Green Wave Club membership surpassing 4,000 members for the first time in department history in FY26 and setting a departmental record of $3.915 million unrestricted cash raised in FY25. He continues to lead department efforts around Give Green, Tulane’s university-wide day of giving, setting records for both individual donor contributions and dollars raised for consecutive years in 2025 and 2026. On Give Green 2026, Tulane Athletics received more than $1 million in contributions from more than 1,200 individual donors, marking the first time any school or unit surpassed $1 million raised and 1,000 donor thresholds in the nine-year history of Give Green.
In 2025, Watson spearheaded efforts to relaunch Tulane Athletics’ Pledge Per Win Drives, raising more than $45,000 in the initiative’s first year. In 2024, he oversaw the revamping of the Tulane Letterwinners Association, where every former student-athlete is recognized as a Tulane Letterwinners Association member upon departure from Tulane, resulting in renewed engagement and membership increasing by over 4,000 members.
Watson joined Tulane as the Assistant Director of Development in July 2022. In his previous role, he maintained daily internal operations for the Green Wave Club, while soliciting annual fund and major gift donations in support of Tulane Athletics' 17 varsity programs.
Watson earned his bachelor's degree in Sport Management from Eastern Kentucky University in 2020. Afterwards, he went on to earn his master's degree in Sport Administration from the University of Louisville in 2022. While attending Louisville, he was the President of the UofL Sport Administration Association and a member of the Louisville Athletics Internship Program, working in both development and compliance.
Watson was named the 2025 Athletic Department Staff Member of the Year, in recognition of his contributions to the department, and the professionalism and positivity he carries himself with. He was also a recipient of the Office of Advancement’s first-ever Swell Awards for Outstanding Performance, an award given annually to recognize Tulane Advancement employees who display extraordinary effort and commitment and represent high achievement in their contributions to the department.
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