Advancement reports near‑record gift receipts, freed up $1.3 million in endowed funds

Mark Archambault, who leads the university’s advancement and foundation work, told governors that last year was a banner fundraising year and that receipts so far this year are close to that 10‑year high.

Through April the foundation had recorded just over $3.3 million in gift receipts, largely for restricted and endowed scholarships, which Archambault said equated to about 90% of the previous 10‑year peak. He added that an unofficial $200,000 pledge payment received the prior week would take the foundation to roughly 95% of the $3.7 million benchmark.

Archambault described an ongoing review of legacy scholarship and fund agreements; amendments and legal processes last year freed about $1.3 million in endowed funds to realign dollars with viable programs. He also discussed priorities for FY26 including growing privately funded scholarships, continuing a franchise development collateral fund (costs for acquiring stores have risen ~30% since inception) and conducting a fundraising feasibility study for an outdoor competition‑level track, to be developed in consultation with coach Cody Ingalls.

Archambault said the foundation is preparing to bring four candidates for the dean of the College of Business and Professional Studies to campus and will continue targeted donor cultivation for the collateral and facilities work.

Next steps: advancement will continue donor cultivation, finalize feasibility study parameters and report developments to the board.