Boise State has received 9 donations of at least $1M. How is that money being used?

The Boise State athletic department has received about $48 million in donations and annual commitments since athletic director Jeramiah Dickey was hired in January 2021.

Dickey said he knew when he replaced former athletic director Curt Apsey that he was taking over a program with a powerful national brand that was built on past wins and blue turf.

His challenge was to monetize that brand in a way that hasn’t been done at Boise State in years in an effort make the whole department competitive on a national stage, not just the football team.

“As grateful as I am for the foundation built by those Fiesta Bowl wins, we don’t want to live in the past,” Dickey told the Idaho Statesman. “I knew when I got here that we had to define a vision and direction for this department, and I knew it couldn’t be who we were or who we currently are. It has to be who we’re going to become.”

Dickey and his staff have accepted the challenge in a big way. The department has received nine gifts of at least $1 million since he was hired. The Broncos also got a one-time $750,000 donation that is going toward the installation of new LED lights in Albertsons Stadium.

Many of those donations have come through the Lyle Smith Society, which requires that members give $25,000 over a five-year period or an annual gift of $25,000 or more. The program has accounted for $22 million in revenue since its inception in December 2020, according to the society’s website.

The Lyle Smith Society added 21 members in the first quarter of fiscal year 2023, according to Boise State’s quarterly report, and the group has grown to 213 members. The Bronco Athletic Association, which is the department’s main giving option, was up to 5,800 members as of November 2022.

Boise State also received record-setting donations last year that are funding projects currently under way.

A $5 million gift given by the Miller family in December 2022 is the largest one-time donation in program history. It’s earmarked for the expansion of the north end of Albertsons Stadium and capital projects for the men’s and women’s basketball teams.

The expansion of the north end of the stadium is in the request-for-proposal phase and the university is accepting public bids, according to a spokesperson for Boise State.

The final product will feature premium seating, including loge boxes and field-level suites, the addition of general admission seats and the construction of a dining hall, which will serve all of Boise State’s athletic teams. It’s expected to cost at least $32 million, according to documents from the Idaho State Board of Education.

The Miller family’s gift broke a record set by a $4.5 million donation given by Melaleuca, a health product manufacturer based in Idaho Falls, in March 2022.

Melaleuca’s donation is funding the construction of a 6,000-square-foot video board in the south end of the stadium, which will be the largest video board in the Mountain West. It should be ready for the football team’s spring game in April, according to a spokesperson for the university.

Boise State also got $1.8 million from Agribeef, a beef producer headquartered in Boise, to upgrade the video board in the stadium’s north end. The 2,850-square-foot board made its debut during the Broncos’ 2022 home opener against UT Martin.

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Money from donors has also been used to replace the turf in the Caven-Williams indoor practice facility and to install lights at the Boas Soccer Complex. Dickey said bigger facilities upgrades are in the works for this year.

“It goes without saying in this industry, but no one has enough,” he said. “But I finally feel like we have our head above water and we’re fundraising for the fun things. 2023 is going to be a big year for us.”

Improvements to the salary pool for assistant football coaches were also a direct result of donations from the Lyle Smith Society, Dickey said.

Bush Hamdan’s $400,000 base salary made him the highest-paid offensive coordinator in program history. Defensive coordinator Spencer Danielson signed a new two-year deal in December 2022 that made him the highest-paid assistant in program history.

Danielson will make $425,000 this year and $450,000 next year. He was the interim head football coach when Dickey was hired, and the Broncos’ AD said keeping Danielson around was high on his priority list.

“I think very highly of him, and if he wants to be a head coach, he will absolutely have that opportunity at some point,” Dickey said. “I’m grateful for him and thankful that we could improve his situation and ultimately impact ours.”

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What’s next?

It’s not enough to bring more money in, Dickey said. It also has to be reinvested into the department.

“Reinvesting is a driver for me,” he said. “We may never have what everyone else has, but we can bridge the gap with how we treat people and how we support our student-athletes and improve the game day experience for our fans.”

Boise State set a department record while bringing in $24.1 million in donations and contributions in fiscal year 2022. That was up 66% from the $14.5 million it brought in during FY 2021.

Dickey said he’s proud of the work his staff has done, but more is needed, especially given the scope of the projects the department is still working to fund.

Boise State announced its vision for a major facilities overhaul in April 2022. The project, coined “Playbook for Success,” includes major renovations to Albertsons Stadium, ExtraMile Arena and the Arguinchona Basketball Complex, and the construction of beach volleyball courts, a soccer stadium and a 5,000-seat arena on campus.

It’s expected to cost more than $300 million, and Dickey said it’s exactly the kind of vision that will make Boise State more attractive to Power Five conferences. It’s not how much money a department brings in that catches their attention, he said. It’s what is done with that money.

“If that creates a better fan experience and we win more, that resonates,” he said. “It impacts who we’re recruiting and the level of student-athletes we’re bringing in. That should equate to more eyes and ears on our program, and I do believe that resonates with the powers that be.”

Here’s a look at six more donations of at least $1 million that Boise State has received since Dickey was hired:

▪ The Schwenkfelder family gave $1 million in November 2022 for the expansion of the north end of the stadium and an endowment earmarked for the men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s tennis and volleyball programs.

▪ The Nicolaysen family gave $1 million in February 2022 to fund endowed scholarships for the men’s and women’s basketball programs and future capital expenditures for the men’s basketball team. The donation also supported the family’s academic scholarship, the Taco Bell Leadership Scholarship, which was established in 2006.

▪ Boise State‘s Lyle Smith Society received its first $1 million gift from an anonymous donor in July 2021. Some of the funds were used to replace the turf in the Caven-Williams indoor facility. The rest was used to fund programs that “position Bronco student-athletes for success in the classroom, in competition and in life after college,” according to a press release.

▪ A $1 million gift was given from an anonymous donor in December 2022 that was earmarked for expenses related to football operations and capital improvements.

▪ A $1 million gift was given from an anonymous donor in November 2022 that is going toward the expansion of the north end of Albertsons Stadium and other capital improvements.

▪ A $1 million gift was given from an anonymous donor in May 2022 that is being used for upgrades to the men’s and women’s basketball facilities.