WKU News

Western Kentucky University surpassed its previous record of private support in a fiscal year with a new high of more than $44.5 million raised from July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025.

The success of this fiscal year adds a sixth year to the tally of record fundraising years since WKU President Timothy C. Caboni came to the University in 2017. In the past eight years, the University has achieved its six largest fundraising years on record. 

“I’m proud of the work of Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement, the College Heights Foundation and everyone else who has contributed to this effort, but most importantly, I’m proud of the philanthropy and investment our donors are making into our University and our students,” said President Caboni.

Amanda L. Trabue, Vice President of Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement, said that private support, which benefits all areas of the University from academics to athletics, student scholarships and faculty positions, continues to be critical to WKU’s ongoing success.

“Fundraising requires identifying a donor’s passion and skillfully matching those to the strategic needs of the University,” Trabue said. “Announcing a record fundraising year is truly inspiring. We’re very fortunate that so many of our donors had the desire to support WKU so generously this year.

“Supporting student initiatives tells a student that we see their progress and believe in them, and our students tell us that knowing someone sees your potential is a powerful feeling,” Trabue said. “Just as important, supporting faculty positions or a specific program provides infrastructure and opportunities for growth for that area.”

Highlighted gift announcements from this fiscal year:

• During the annual Faculty and Staff Convocation in August 2024, President Caboni announced that the WKU Opportunity Fund had surpassed its $100 million goal, raising $102,779,663 to benefit WKU students. Read more here.

• Two-time alumna, WKU employee and longtime University benefactor Dixie Mahurin (’62, ’67) made a gift to endow the Head Coach for Men’s Basketball position, the first endowed position in WKU Athletics. Read more here.

• WKU received a $5.25 million gift from The Bill Gatton Foundation to support The Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science and LifeWorks. Read more here. 

• Irene and Don Dizney (’14, H.D) of Ocala, Fla., made a gift to endow the Dean of the College of Health and Human Services, the first endowed deanship at WKU and the first endowed position in CHHS. Read more here. 

Trabue said that while these gifts are notable, they represent leadership gifts that have a different kind of impact from annual giving. 

“Annual giving, such as the gift a donor makes every year to support a scholarship or program that means something to them, is just as important as large gifts,” Trabue said. “Annual giving provides sustainability, and many programs rely on the annual cumulative support of many donors.

“Of the more than $44.5 million raised last fiscal year, more than $20 million was made through outright gifts and pledges from individuals, and more than $18 million came from corporations, foundations and other organizations through outright gifts, pledges and matching gifts,” Trabue said. “This shows that what we’re doing at WKU resonates with members of our community. They see our advancement and want to be part of what we’re doing on the Hill. Through their gifts, donors show their support of the work of our administration, faculty and staff, and they show their belief in our students.”

Other important philanthropy-focused statistics from the previous fiscal year include:

• The second WKU Day of Giving was held in March 2025 and raised $302,435 to support student initiatives. Results showed increased leadership and participation from the WKU Student Alumni Ambassadors, 119 first-time donors and elevated participation from WKU faculty and staff. Additionally, the WKU Alumni Association Board of Directors had an impressive 100% participation rate, with those volunteer leaders making gifts of $17,948 in total. Read more.

• During Homecoming 2024, the University recognized the outstanding achievements of nine esteemed WKU alumni and dedicated benefactors at the Hilltopper Excellence Awards, generously sponsored by Franklin Bank & Trust with additional support provided by Education and Training Resources. Read more here about our 2024 honorees, and stay tuned for upcoming announcements about our 2025 honorees.

• In November 2024, the WKU Sisterhood celebrated 15 years of service to the WKU community and awarded $65,960 in grants to four campus initiatives. Read more here.

• Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement partnered with Givzey to launch a custom virtual engagement officer, Olivia, powered by AI to focus on a portfolio of 1,000 prospects with the goal of boosting engagement, increasing annual contributions and strengthening the donor pipeline. Read more.

• WKU has a great tradition of paying it forward to current and future Hilltoppers through scholarship opportunities. This fiscal year, 57 new endowments were created to remove barriers to access to education.

While critically important to the University, fundraising represents only one area of the Division of Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement. Additional highlights from the fiscal year include:

• Continuing the tradition of Hilltoppers giving back, 466 alumni volunteered more than 4,071 hours of service to WKU through the Alumni Association, including 30 Student Alumni Ambassadors who volunteered more than 900 hours of service. 

• Initiatives like Alumni in Residence and Under 40 at the Top were made possible by volunteer leadership to recognize alumni for their achievements and keep them connected and engaged with the University.

• The Strategic Operations & Appeals team worked to create a suite of dashboards to track fundraising progress and prospect management, revise and improve reporting for better analysis of data, and enhance data quality and integrity.

• Staff within the Division completed work on two issues of WKU SPIRIT Magazine that spotlighted 486 alumni and highlighted approximately 206 University programs, initiatives and student organizations. Each issue of WKU SPIRIT was mailed to approximately 60,000 homes.

“Celebrating the success of the 2024-2025 fiscal year doesn’t mean that we aren’t already hard at work for this fiscal year,” Trabue said. “We have an exciting year ahead as we plan events to honor donors for the Gordon Ford College of Business facility and recognize new and continued partnerships across campus that will elevate the experience for our students and the work of our faculty and staff.

“The WKU tradition of giving back and paying it forward can be traced to the very beginning of our institution’s history,” Trabue said. “I’m proud to be part of continuing that belief and building connections today that will ensure success for WKU for many, many years to come.”

For more information, contact WKU Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement at philanthropy@wku.eduor (270) 745-6208.