Salt Lake City 2034 organizers announce record philanthropic campaign, raise more than $200 million

Organizers of the Salt Lake City 2034 Winter Olympics and Paralympics announced a philanthropic campaign Monday that has raised more than $200 million, calling it the largest donor effort supporting a host city in Olympic and Paralympic history.

The initiative, branded Podium34, is intended to fund community engagement programs tied to the Games and currently represents about one‑tenth of the $2.84 billion projected operating budget. Organizers said they hope to raise $300 million through the effort.

Officials told donors at a Salt Lake City event that nine of Utah’s wealthiest families and foundations have each pledged at least $20 million over the next nine years and were named founding captains of the project. The donations are designated to support education, youth sports, mental health, arts and culture and other programs organizers said capture the spirit of the Games.

"We now launch what is the most impressive start to a Games this country, this world has even seen," Sarah Hirshland, chief executive officer of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said at the event. Fraser Bullock, president and executive chair of the Salt Lake City 2034 committee, said the organizing committee is contractually barred from bringing in other revenue sources until after the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and that donors are the primary source of early funding. "Our only source of revenue is donors," he said. "Without you, we would not be in business. We couldn’t start."

The International Olympic Committee awarded Salt Lake City the 2034 Winter Games in July 2024, giving Utah its second Winter Games after 2002. Salt Lake City was the only candidate for 2034 after the IOC gave the state exclusive negotiating rights. IOC President Kirsty Coventry recorded a message for donors saying they were "taking the helm of something unprecedented" and sending a powerful message to the world.

Organizers said the plan for the 2034 Games will be one of the most compact in Olympic history, with all venues within about an hour’s drive of the athletes’ village on the University of Utah campus. They said the plan requires no new permanent construction: all 13 venues are already in place from when Salt Lake City hosted in 2002. The organizing committee has pledged not to use state tax dollars to host the Games, with the exception of some funds used for maintaining Olympic venues that are also open to the public.

Officials said the fundraising timeline spans the nine years leading to the Games and that Podium34 funds will be deployed for community programs in the run‑up to 2034. The effort is intended to address concerns about whether a host could marshal sufficient private support given the rising costs and environmental challenges associated with staging Winter Games.

The announcement follows a period in which climate change and high operational costs have reduced the number of cities willing to bid for the Winter Olympics. Organizers framed Podium34 as both a financial and civic mobilization designed to leave a legacy beyond the competition schedule.

Salt Lake City 2034 organizers said more details about allocation of funds and additional fundraising milestones will be disclosed as the campaign progresses. The filing and oversight arrangements for donor contributions were not detailed at Monday’s event.