FAU Made a Cinderella Final Four Run. Their Athletic Department Donations Doubled

In its final year as a member of Conference USA, Florida Atlantic University’s athletic department raised $15.3 million from donors—doubling its previous year’s fundraising total.

The figure accounts for the period between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023. FAU officially became a full-member of the American Athletic Conference on July 1, ending its tenure with Conference USA. For the 2022-23 fiscal year, FAU gained 503 new donors and received seven gifts totaling six or seven figures, the school said. 

Since 2018, FAU notched a five-year span with 30 total six or seven figure gifts, a record number over any previous five-year span for the school. 

FAU’s men’s basketball team was a Cinderella story this past March, as the No. 9-seeded Owls made it all the way to the Final Four after never having won an NCAA Tournament game before. FAU defeated Memphis, Fairleigh Dickinson, Tennessee, and Kansas State in the Elite Eight before losing to San Diego State in the Final Four. 

Donors who make a five-year commitment of $25,000 or more are eligible to join FAU’s Paradise Club/Investors Society, which the school formed this year under its mission to “position FAU athletics for conference championships and to gain national prominence.”

“This philanthropic society will be devoted towards delivering critical financial support enhancing the experiences of our current and future student-athletes,” FAU said in a press release. “It is essential to recruit, retain and develop extraordinary student-athletes, coaches and staff who are dedicated to propelling Florida Atlantic into a new era.”