It was a banner year for the University of Connecticut, but not just on the basketball court.
The University of Connecticut Foundation said Monday it raised more than $144 million in fiscal 2025, which ended June 30. The foundation described it as one of the top fundraising years in its history.
The total also pushed the foundation beyond the halfway point for its multiyear fundraising campaign, called “Because of UConn.” To this point, more than $757 million has been raised toward the campaign’s $1.5 billion goal.
The foundation noted that a $68 million of the total was raised just in the last quarter of the fiscal year, after the campaign was publicly announced at the end of April.
The campaign spans all schools, colleges, campuses, athletics and UConn Health, and has four pillars:
- Make investments in student success;
- Promote academic and innovation excellence;
- Maintain focus on the health and wellness of people and the planet; and
- Invest in athletic excellence and alumni engagement.
Donations have raised more than $50 million in support of UConn Athletics, the foundation said.
The foundation also noted that the school received significant support from individual donors, including:
- Alumni Denis and Britta Nayden committed $15 million to establish The Nayden Center for Academic Excellence within the Bailey Student-Athlete Success Center, to support initiatives in student-athlete financial literacy, mental health and wellness.
- Several private and corporate donors continued their commitment to the UConn Hartford campus, totaling nearly $8 million, to support residential student housing.
- Donald and Jean Reefe are leaving a $1.5 million bequest to the UConn School of Medicine. Reefe attributes his life-saving treatment and recovery from a heart attack to UConn Health’s doctors, nurses and hospital staff. The Donald and Jean Reefe Family Fund for Cardiology will support clinical technology, education and research at the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center.
- Judy Sarna made a $1.5 million gift to establish the Morris and Judy Sarna Breaking Bias and Creating Community Program Fund in honor of her late husband, a Holocaust survivor. The gift brings UConn’s Holocaust and bias awareness program to high school students in Connecticut, while also providing Neag School students and faculty with hands-on teaching experience and professional development.
The foundation also credited its campaign committee, led by co-chairs Rich and Joyce Eldh, Doug and Sheila Elliot, and Toni Boucher and Dan Toscano, with contributing more than $40 million in fiscal 2025.
“I’m extremely grateful to our campaign volunteers for leading us to a successful launch and to our donors for their unfailing vision and generosity to UConn and UConn Health through the Because of UConn Campaign this year,” said Amy Yancey, UConn Foundation president and CEO. “We broke many previous records and have set the stage for an unprecedented year ahead.”
