Fresno State, on way to Pac-12, rebrands fundraising. Five things to know

Fresno State received a $1 million gift from a long-time donor earlier this month to launch the Valley Co-Op, an athletics fund-raising model focused on coaches of the Bulldogs’ sports programs in an era of college athletics that now includes revenue-sharing with student-athletes.

The donation, from Jami Hamel DeLaCerda, founder and president of the Diamond Learning Center in Clovis, garnered most of the attention. But the Valley Co-Op is a critical piece for an athletics department lagging behind many of its peers headed to a rebuilding Pac-12 Conference next year.

What is the Valley Co-Op, and how does it work?

Here are five things to know …

Are donations sport-specific or shared across programs?

The Valley Co-Op is essentially a rebranding of the athletics department’s funds for excellence, where donors could give directly to a sports program for best uses, whatever a coach needed at the time. The donations are a resource above the sport’s allocated operating budget from the athletics department, and as with excellence funds, donations to a specific sport remain with that program. That has not changed, but the stakes are higher with the Bulldogs moving to the Pac-12 next year and in an era of revenue-sharing coaches now can also use those funds to recruit, develop and retain student-athletes.

Fresno State Athletics director Garrett Klassy has said raising funds to pay players does not resonate well in the San Joaquin Valley. But it also is an inescapable part of the landscape in college athletics with the approval in June of a multi-billion dollar lawsuit settlement that ended three separate antitrust lawsuits against the NCAA.

How will coaches use donations to their programs?

Contributions to sports programs can be used in any number of ways, at the discretion of the coach. Revenue sharing with student-athletes obviously stands out, but nutrition could be a focus, team charter travel, equipment, additional scholarships.

Football coach Matt Entz said nutrition is a big ticket item for his program as it develops an offense built on rushing the football, and sport specific donations will go to things that impact players on a daily basis. In the last three seasons Entz was at FCS North Dakota State, the Bison ran the football on between 65% and 70% of their plays from scrimmage. Fresno State last season ran it just 47% of the time. The Bulldogs will look different, and they will need to.

“We’re told people that in-season we’re talking anywhere between 3,000 to 5,000 calories a day and out-of-season anywhere between 7,000 to 9,000 calories a day,” Entz said. “If we want to look like a Pac-12 team, we need to make sure we’re positioned that way from a physical development standpoint as well.”

How does this impact donations to the scholarship fund?

Bulldog Foundation staples, including the Green V Society and Meyers Champions Circle, remain a priority. Donations have increased in back-to-back years, said Tyler Mariucci, senior associate athletics director for development. But scholarships are a $7.8 million line item in the athletics department budget, the third largest behind coaching compensation and staff compensation.

“One of our main pillars is raising money for scholarships,” Mariucci said. “We have people interested in giving to scholarships. Our scholarship bill is tied to the majority of our parking, premium seating within Valley Children’s Stadium and the Save Mart Center. That is not going away.”

How far behind is Fresno State?

The Bulldogs are playing catch up, no question. Sport-specific contributions to Fresno State football last year came to $2.2 million, according to its NCAA financial documents. The basketball program received about $331,000 from donors. The Bulldogs were not all that close to their biggest Mountain West rivals also headed to the Pac-12, particularly in football. San Diego State raked in $8.6 million in sport-specific donations and Boise State $5.7 million. The Aztecs’ basketball program received $6.3 million in contributions, and while Boise State reported about $261,000 it also reported $5.7 million in basketball operating revenues compared to just $2.3 million for the Bulldogs. “

Is this just for major gifts?

The gift from DeLaCerda is a significant chunk of money, but Klassy has stressed the need to broaden the Bulldogs’ donor base. The Valley Co-Op, he said, is about everyone doing their part, big or small. If Fresno State can build on what it has done in the past, it could gain ground quickly. While donations to the Bulldogs’ football program do not match up with some peers, the Valley has helped fund Fresno State sports programs.

Sport-specific donations to the Bulldogs’ women’s sports programs in 2024 came to more than $2.2 million, more than San Diego State, Boise State or Oregon State. “We have anywhere from 2.5 to 3 million people in this valley, whatever metric you look at, and the majority of them are Bulldog fans,” Klassy said. “If we’re able to put together a compelling reason for them to give to our sports programs, we don’t need the $100 million chunks. Now, those help. But if we can get everyone to give just a couple hundreds of dollars a year, we will outpace our competition.”

Klassy compared the valley donor base to the Green Bay Packers, the only publicly owned, though not publicly traded, team in the NFL. The Packers are a non-profit corporation, its profits reinvested into the team and not distributed to its shareholders. But whether holding one share of 1,000, it comes with a stake in the team and its success.

“That’s the message we need to get out there,” Klassy said. “We need to do it by masses, not by five or 10 individuals. We have great individuals that help, but the reality is that group gives to everything. They give to Bulldog Sports Properties. They give to the Bulldog Foundation. They give to campus. We need to find new people that want to give to Bulldog athletics.”

This story was originally published August 3, 2025 at 3:31 PM.