Welcome to Fundraising Friday, AB Today's weekly digest of recent developments in development.
Brian Swette and his wife, Kelly, have establish the Swette Family Endowed Football Coach position with a $10 million gift — the largest endowed leadership position in Arizona State University athletics. According to the university's May 1 announcement, the gift will support recruitment and retention of the best and brightest student-athletes to ASU, recruitment and retention of best-in-class coaches and staff, retention and compensation of Sun Devil football student-athletes as allowed by the NCAA, and new technologies to enhance athletes’ physical and mental development.
Mustang Partners has announced a $1 million gift from the Steve Lockton Family Foundation to the Student-Athlete Benefit Fund at Southern Methodist University. A 1989 SMU graduate, Steve Lockton has a daughter, Carley, who graduated from SMU's Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences in 2022, and a son, Stephen, who is a current student at SMU. He has helped shape several key projects across campus, including a $1 million gift to the Garry Weber End Zone Complex at Gerald J. Ford Stadium at the outset of that project. The Student-Athlete Benefit Fund allows donors to contribute directly to SMU in support of student-athletes.
Virginia Tech wrestling head coach Tony Robie announced the single largest cash donation in program history — a $1 million gift from Dave and Heidi Jester of Virginia Beach. According to the athletic department's Tuesday announcement, the gift will support recruiting, staffing, facilities and many other programmatic needs.
Total amount of these gifts:
$12,000,000
Running total for 2026:
$353,242,000
Total amount tracked by AB Today in 2025:
$1,671,578,500
