UCF saw total financial commitments of $17.3M in FY '17 after the football team's undefeated seasonGETTY IMAGES
UCF experienced a "record-setting year of fundraising" due in part to its football team's undefeated '17 season, according to Matt Murschel of the ORLANDO SENTINEL. During FY '17, UCF "hit new high marks" in cash gift revenue with $10.7M and total financial commitments with $17.3M. UCF AD Danny White said, “We can build a perennial top 25 athletic department here and obviously our donors see it too. ... We’ve already passed last year’s record-breaking year and we’re still raising money up to July 1. I think it will continue to grow through the next couple of months." So far during FY '17-18, UCF’s Championship Resources unit has "already generated cash gift revenue" of $10.9M with the commitment total at nearly $16M. The figure is "expected to grow next year and surpass the newly set record." It is a "big part of White’s job these days as he meets with alumni, donors and corporate sponsors hoping to sell them all on some of the great things going on at the school." White: "We’ve got the right coaches, we’ve got everything set up in place and we just have to let it mature, but we need more resources to invest in it." One of those resources is a "new athletic village, which is situated on 95 acres that includes the new nutrition center, the athletics headquarters, a new leisure center for athletes, a plaza surrounding the stadium and a recovery cove that gained national attention when it was dubbed a lazy river." To date, UCF has $16.2M "committed to the project with an overall goal" of $30M to complete every aspect of it (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 5/12).
