WWU wins national award for campus involvement in Give Day

Western Washington University has received the 2026 ScaleFunder Givey Award for Best Campus Involvement, recognizing the collaborative campus effort behind WWU Give Day 2026.

Give Day raised $1,040,670 from 2,844 donors to support scholarships, academic programs, research, athletics, student clubs and other opportunities across Western.

University Advancement worked with 161 collaborators across campus to create 106 department pages featuring 385 programs. Campus partners developed fundraising appeals, social media campaigns and challenges, allowing individual areas to connect with the alumni, donors and communities closest to their work.

The annual Givey Awards recognize creativity, innovation and impact among institutions using the ScaleFunder digital fundraising platform. Western’s award recognizes outstanding leadership and creative excellence in digital fundraising.  

During the awards presentation, the ScaleFunder team highlighted the scale of Western’s campus participation and the work required to coordinate with such a wide array of campus partners.  

ScaleFunder also praised Western for giving campus partners the flexibility to make their individual campaigns their own while participating in a coordinated university wide effort. Departments and programs brought their own voices, stories and relationships with donors to their pages rather than relying on a single approach across the university.

“For 11 years, Give Day has grown through relationships across Western,” said Mandy Hanousek, associate vice president for Advancement Operations. “This award recognizes the campus partners who bring their own communities, stories and energy to the effort each year.”

“This recognition reflects what’s possible when the community rallies around our students,” said Kim Hill, vice president for University Advancement and president and CEO of The Foundation for WWU & Alumni. “Faculty, staff, alumni, donors and friends all had a role in making WWU Give Day successful, and their collective support creates opportunities for students across the university.” 

The award comes as Western prepares to build on that model of campuswide participation in 2027.

WWU Give Day will become part of We Love WWU Day on Feb. 10, expanding the annual fundraising effort into a broader celebration of Western and its students. The day will bring together events and activities across campus, opportunities for the Western community to share what they love about WWU, and ways for donors to support the programs and areas that matter most to them.

The evolution builds on what made WWU Give Day successful: thousands of people and programs across Western bringing their own voices, communities and reasons for loving Western to one shared effort.

“Bringing WWU Give Day into We Love WWU Day makes it more personal to Western and Western’s mission,” said Justene Merriman, coordinator for fundraising marketing. “We Love WWU Day is an annual celebration of Western and its students. Including the traditions of Give Day makes the celebration bigger. Everyone is welcome to participate in events, share what they love about Western, and show their love with a gift to a program they care about. Generous donor matches make those gifts go even further. It’ll be the sweetest day of the year at WWU.”

Learn more about We Love WWU Day on The Foundation for WWU & Alumni's website.