OU announced Monday that it had broken the university’s fundraising record with $317 million in gifts and pledges during the 2022 fiscal year, which ended on June 30. This year’s record exceeded last year’s $237 million record by about $80 million.
OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. said this record represents the outpouring support and belief in the university’s “momentum” from alumni and friends.
“Together, with our OU Family, we are building upon a legacy more than a century in the making: to change lives through education, innovation and service,” Harroz said in the release.
According to the press release, the university received over 80,377 gifts with 54 totaling over $1 million or more and six gifts totaling over $10 million or more. The press release noted that the gifts from Tim Headington, Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores and Devon Energy Corp. “provided impactful support to the OU Athletics Department.”
OU Vice President and Director of Athletics Joe Castiglione said offering “world-class resources” to student athletes, coaches and staff is the university’s top priority.
“OU Athletics and our generous and passionate stakeholders have worked year after year in lockstep to achieve record-setting success,” Castiglione said in the press release. “We are so grateful to have this critical support in our ongoing pursuit that only continues to evolve in the ever-changing landscape of college athletics.”
The press release said 7,000 people donated to the university for the first time, with the majority of these donations being made on OU Giving Day 2022, which raised over $11 million from donors across 41 states, setting a new one-day fundraising record for the university.
Amy Noah, OU Foundation vice president and chief advancement officer, said one of her priorities when joining the foundation in 2021 was to establish a “powerful and robust” Giving Day. The press release claimed the OU foundation has focused on increasing staffing and better connecting current and potential donors under Noah’s leadership.
“The OU Foundation has undergone great changes, but our dedication to supporting the university has stayed the same,” Noah said in the release. “The growth of our organization has afforded us the opportunity to thoughtfully build and steward donor relationships at an even greater level of attentiveness.”
