Welcome to Fundraising Friday: AB Today's weekly digest of recent developments in development.
Southern Illinois University in Carbondale has secured commitments totaling $7.5 million toward women's athletics. The announcements from the athletic department came three days apart this week. The first, which is part of an anonymous donor's estate plan, earmarks $4 million scholarships for all female student-athletes and another $500,000 for improvements to the Saluki Softball Stadium. The second directs $3 million to the Saluki women's basketball program from Craig Englert, a diehard fan of the program.
The University of Arizona athletic department has received a historic $5 million commitment from alum R. Ken Coit to establish the R. Ken Coit Director of Athletics position — the first named director of athletics position in university history. According to Wednesday's announcement at arizonawildcats.com, the gift will be commemorated by a permanent plaque and the naming of Gate 3 at Arizona Stadium the R. Ken Coit Gate.
Virginia Athletics and the Virginia Athletics Foundation announced Wednesday a $1 million commitment from former First-Team All-ACC linebacker Charles McDaniel and wife Tricia. According to virginiasports.com, the gift represents the largest non-capital commitment ever made by a former Virginia football student-athlete.
Danny Wimmer Presents, the company behind Kentucky’s Louder Than Life and Bourbon & Beyond music festivals, has pledged $1 million in support of the University of Louisville athletic department's NIL efforts over the next decade, according to radio station WOMI in Owensboro.
Finally, as reported in AB Today on Wednesday, citing Tuesday's announcement at fightingillini.com, University of Illinois alum Larry Gies has made the largest donation to Illinois Athletics in the department's history — a $100 million commitment that will be commemorated with the renaming of the Illini's 102-year-old football home to Gies Memorial Stadium.
Total amount of these gifts:
$114,500,000
Running total for 2025:
$986,708,500
Total amount tracked by AB Today in 2024:
$943,830,339
