WKU’s Opportunity Fund, a student-centered fundraising campaign designed to remove barriers to education through needs-based financial assistance, has surpassed its $100 million goal.
In August 2021, WKU President Timothy Caboni announced that the University had surpassed the Opportunity Fund’s initial goal of $50 million and set a new goal of $100 million.
Just three years later, fundraising eclipsed the goal, raising $102,779,663 to benefit WKU students.
Opening Doors For Students
Since the inception of the program, 267 new endowed scholarship funds were established.
The campaign, which focused on recruitment, retention and support for experiences beyond the classroom, became one of the initiatives in WKU’s 10-year strategic plan.
“Providing students with access to a degree – access that would otherwise not be possible – opens doors for students by relieving for them a portion of their student debt,” said President Caboni. “Once they are students, we work to keep them in school all the way through graduation – and this is important – because we have students who face unthinkable financial circumstances not only during their first year, but in year two, year three and year four. And sometimes the only way they can return to our Hill to finish their final semester is with a little help.”
The goal was to establish a critical pathway to ensure that every student at WKU could have a full college experience.
“For those struggling to make ends meet, the notion of attending a conference or participating in study abroad, for example, may be out of reach,” said President Caboni. “Without help, that is.”
Amanda Trabue, Vice President for Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement, said the campaign total includes gifts from alumni, friends, corporations, foundations and other organizations, and this total includes both current gifts and estate commitments.
During the Opportunity Fund campaign, more than 4,044 alumni and 4,581 friends made financial gifts.
“The WKU Spirit is never more apparent than when Hilltoppers show up for each other,” said Trabue. “Through the dedication of our alumni and friends, 20,205 students received privately funded scholarship support during the seven years of the Opportunity Fund campaign – and many more will receive support from these funds into the future.”
Changing Students’ Lives
Planned giving, which represents gifts made through an estate commitment or other gift planning vehicle, made up 25% of the campaign total.
“That so many alumni and friends choose to continue their legacy through a planned gift to WKU is a testament to the University’s tradition of stewarding our donors’ wishes and the joy that comes from finding the best way to make a gift that benefits the donor and the institution,” said Trabue. “These donors play an active role in the success of WKU by ensuring the programs that are important to them today are supported in the future.”
President Caboni thanked multiple teams for the success of the Opportunity Fund, including WKU Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement, the College Heights Foundation and campus leadership.
“This announcement is one that changes the lives of our students and advances our University in perpetuity,” said President Caboni. “This not only affects every member of our faculty and staff and the future of our institution but is made possible only because of each of you.
“WKU faculty and staff work each day to support our students, and you are the foundation of the sense of family and community that students count on during their WKU Experience,” President Caboni added. “Thank you for your work. I want to offer a special thanks to those of you who choose to give back financially to the programs that matter the most to you. Thank you to the 740 current and retired WKU employees who donated more than $6 million in total to the Opportunity Fund.”
Surpassing the Opportunity Fund goal does not mark the end of fundraising efforts to support WKU students.
“The tradition of creating opportunities for WKU students began in 1923 when founder Dr. Henry Hardin Cherry received a $100 gift from a faculty member to support students,” said President Caboni. “This belief in paying it forward and helping others will always be part of what it means to be a Hilltopper.”
An event will be held on Friday, September 20 to celebrate the success of the Opportunity Fund.
For more information about the WKU Opportunity Fund, visit wku.edu/opportunityfund.
