Buffed to shine: WT's One West Campaign sets new record for funds raised in a fiscal year
West Texas A&M University surpassed previous fundraising records for its One West comprehensive campaign during the first year since its initial launch on Sept. 1, 2021.
In the first fiscal year since the campaign went public, WT has raised more than $73 million. This total is nearly $60 million more than the amount raised in fiscal year 2021, the previous record-setting year. In total, the campaign has raised approximately $111 million as of this week.
“Hands down, it is the donors that make a fundraising campaign successful, and I am grateful to those who have given, are considering giving, and those who have not yet thought about giving but will,” said WT President Walter V. Wendler in a news release. “Great universities, without exception, are successful in fundraising. The two go hand-in-hand in higher education. The success of this campaign is essential to the future of WT and the thriving of the Panhandle, as laid out in our long-range plan, 'WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.'”
According to Dr. Todd Rasberry, vice president for philanthropy and external relations, the campaign focuses on people, programs, and places.
"The One West campaign is the fuel for the long range vision of WT, known as 'WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World,' so the campaign is raising philanthropic dollars to fulfill that vision. The campaign has three priorities, including people, programs and places, in that order, and so the money that we are raising from donors goes to support our core educational mission while really supporting those three priorities," Rasberry said.
More than half of the designated gifts received thus far to the campaign has been contributed with a focus on people, including expanding scholarship opportunities, named professorships and chairs. Over the 2021-22 academic year, WT added nine endowed professorships, bringing its total number of professorships and chairs to 70.
An additional 26 percent of the current total has been designated for the One West focus on places, through improving existing buildings and constructing transformational new spaces; 22.8 percent of the current total has been designated for programs, through enhancing academic offerings and research.
In the 2022 fiscal year, WT saw increased giving in multiple ways. In August, WT received the annual $1 million disbursement from Paul Engler and the Engler Foundation, part of what is currently the largest gift in WT history. Major gifts in the last fiscal year include a $5 million gift to rename the Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium by the families of Barbara and the late Ray Bain and Stanley and the late Geneva Schaeffer; a $5 million gift by Dyke Rogers for the naming of the Terry B. Rogers College of Education and Social Sciences; and $5 million in gifts from Dr. Gordon W. Davis and Caviness Beef Packers to establish two chairs in meat judging and meat science in the Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Science.
Other prominent major gifts in the last year include a $2.5 million gift by Stanley Schaeffer and family for the naming of the Geneva Schaeffer Education Building; a $1.5 million gift from High Plains Christian Ministries Foundation to renovate the Joseph A. Hill Memorial Chapel; a $500,000 gift from Merck Animal Health for renovation and expansion of WT’s research feedlot; and a $300,000 gift from Louise C. and Gene F. Rahll to endow the Showcase in a Suitcase program for the Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities.
"Student scholarships are key to attracting and retaining students. We want students from across the Panhandle to have to work really hard to make a decision not to come to WT. Supporting families in the educational cost is very important, not just for us but across the nation, and we are taking that very seriously. So, we've had some generous donors give to the campaign already, and it's that generosity that has made this campaign a success," Rasberry said.
Other gifts received thus far in the One West campaign are planned gifts or legacy gifts that will benefit the university as part of the estates of the donors. Planned gifts announced in the last year include the Gerdsen Family Centennial Ranch, a 1,772-acre property located near the WTAMU Nance Ranch east of Canyon; and a $1.8 million pledge from WT alumna Judy Fugate for WT women’s athletics teams through scholarships and program support.
I Am WT, the university’s annual fund campaign, raises more than $300,000 a year from faculty, staff, alumni and students for athletics, academic areas, programs, memberships and more. This year’s campaign kicked off Aug. 25.
Philanthropic gifts may include securities, donor-advised fund gifts, estate gifts, charitable lead trusts, charitable remainder trusts, life insurance, gift annuity or beneficiary designation of retirement funds, to name a few.
According to Rasberry, the public phase of the plan ends in 2025, but the long range plan is prepared to run until the university's 125th anniversary in 2035.
"That plan really forces WT to look at and take seriously what it takes to be a regional university, and that addresses the issues and challenges of the rural region in which we live and find applications that work, not only here, but also in rural regions around the world. This places a responsibility on our shoulders in being a part of finding solutions and building the resources of the Panhandle and our region," Rasberry said.
"We have a lot of work to do in prioritizing people, programs and places and finding donors who are interested in making a difference, and finding them the opportunities at WT through higher education to make that happen," he added.
To make a gift, contact the WTAMU Foundation at 806-651-2070 or visit wtamu.edu/give.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: WTAMU's One West Campaign sets new record for funds raised
