Welcome to Fundraising Friday, AB Today's weekly digest of recent deveopments in development.
Wake Forest University men's basketball head coach Steve Forbes and his wife Johnetta have announced a leadership commitment of $500,000 to the Wake Forest Men's Basketball Excellence Fund. According to an announcement posted Wednesday at godeacs.com, the Wake Forest Deacon Club's innovative Sports Excellence Fund programs enable contributors to designate funds to the program of their choice which has resulted in 1,701 commitments for more than $12.1 million this year alone. Including all athletic fundraising initiatives, Wake Forest has generated over $37 million in total commitments this fiscal year.
Alabama-based community banking firm Bryant Bank recently made a pledge to University of Alabama Huntsville Athletics totaling $250,000 over five years. The new gift is designated for the UAH Athletics Excellence Fund. According to the university's Tuesday announcement, Bryant Bank began making contributions annually to UAH’s intercollegiate athletic program in 2019.
Nearest Green Distillery, an award-winning distillery based in Shelbyville, Tenn., announced last week that it will give $300,000 to Middle Tennessee State University's Build Blue campaign. According to the announcement at goblueraiders.com, this leadership gift propels the Middle Tennessee State University Athletics fundraising campaign to over $22 million. In honor of the gift, the bar area in the SRM Concrete Club on the third floor of the new Student-Athlete Performance Center at Floyd Stadium will be named the "Uncle Nearest Bar" in honor of the distillery and will serve Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey. Build Blue, launched by the Blue Raider Athletic Association in November 2021, seeks to raise $25 million in private donations to upgrade and improve athletics facilities at MTSU.
Total amount of these gifts:
$1,050,000
Running total for 2025:
$309,998,500
Total amount tracked by AB Today in 2024:
$943,830,339
