Fundraising Friday: New Haven, Fresno State Secure Seven-Figure Gifts

Welcome to Fundraising Friday, AB Today's weekly digest of recent developments in development.

The University of New Haven announced Monday a transformational $5 million gift from alum and longtime benefactor Jeffery Hazell, marking the single-largest individual contribution to Chargers athletics. The gift will directly support the New Haven’s transition to NCAA Division I athletics and fund continued renovations and improvements to the Hazell Athletics Center, further solidifying the university’s commitment to excellence in athletics and student-athlete success, the school's announcement stated.

A partnership between Fresno State Athletics and Diamond Learning Center supporting the university’s football program was announced July 11, with a $1 million donation from founder Jami Hamel DeLaCerda. As reported by The Business Journal, the university said the commitment — the largest single donation by a woman in Fresno State Athletics history — will help fund operational costs, including recruitment, retention and football student-athlete development. “The message we want to put out there is we want you to invest in student-athlete recruitment, retention and development, and if you give to the sports programs, let us decide how we want to invest those resources as best we can," Bulldogs athletic director Garrett Klassy said, as reported by The Fresno Bee. "I don’t want our coaches out there, and I don’t want our fundraisers out there, saying we need ‘X’ to keep this player. That doesn’t resonate with this group. They don’t want to hear about us paying players. The reality is, it’s happening, but that message doesn’t need to come from us, because we have enough other areas that we can fund to make sure we’re fielding a winning team.”

Total amount of these gifts:

$6,000,000

Running total for 2025:

$423,058,500

Total amount tracked by AB Today in 2024:

$943,830,339