identifying where we have opportunities to stop some work or shift our strategic focus. This framework needs to be set from a leadership perspective with accountability. Campaign Goals and Update Trustee Jenkins began by reporting that the “save the date” postcards for the campaign launch went out to about 2000 alumni, donors, and friends. The purpose of today’s presentation is to familiarize everyone with the campaign’s vision and key priorities, to highlight the campaign's major themes, and to answer questions and gather feedback. One of the most important messages is that this campaign is much more than just raising funds. It is designed to engage more alumni and friends in the life of the university, to strengthen lifelong connections to CWU, to grow and sustain a stronger culture of philanthropy, and to build long-term support and advocacy for the university. Vice President Elstone reported that we had a record fundraising year this past year. In addition, we have raised just over $55M in the last 5 years towards campaign. The total dollar goal for the campaign will be announced October 9. The campaign priorities have been organized around three key themes: opportunity, experience, and impact. Associate Vice President Adams explained that for the last couple of years they have really been focused on hearing and understanding donor and alumni interest. Engagement means building our base of support through meaningful engagement. This is defined by growing internal and external partnerships, deepening two-way communication, creating personalized donor journeys, and increasing student and alumni engagement. They use a model from CASE that has established definitions for categories of engagement: • Philanthropy: financial support that is meaningful to donors and supports the institution’s mission and strategic goals. • Experiential: meaningful experiences that inspire alumni, are valued by the institution, promote its mission, celebrate its achievements, and strengthen its reputation. • Communication: interactive, meaningful, and informative communication that supports the institution’s mission, strategic goals, and reputation. • Volunteerism: formally defined and rewarding volunteer roles that are endorsed by and valued by the institution. An engagement dashboard has been developed that gives insight into the four modes and how we are currently engaging with our constituents in each of the modes. Associate Vice President Connelly introduced some of the priorities in the three themes. Part of what has gone into the work of identifying the priorities is thinking about the team and the relationship building, donor-focused work that they do, aligning with the mission of the institution. Over the last year, conversations with deans, vice presidents, and the athletic director took place to identify priorities within each of the three pillars. Provost Pease and President Wohlpart confirmed the priorities to make sure we were all moving in the same direction. The priorities were then connected to the strategic plan for the university and the strategic enrollment management plan. The pillars are really a framework that allows us to tell the broader story. Within opportunity, we are talking about access and ways in which we can reduce barriers, financial barriers, and other barriers for students to attain a CWU education. Some of those opportunities include scholarships, the Wildcat Pantry, and an emergency fund. In addition, the library introduced a More Book, Less Buck program last year to bring more affordable course materials to our students. Within the experience pillar, we are talking about high impact
6 Board of Trustees Minutes July 16-17, 2026
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