Making a last impression

CHENEY – "Why do you need donations, you're a state-assisted school."

It's a statement Eastern Washington University Vice President for University Advancement and Executive Director of the EWU Foundation Barb Richey said she sometimes receives when making a pitch to a hoped-for donor. But in reality, the university wouldn't be where it is today without private donations - specifically one donation.

In 1882, Northern Pacific Railroad CEO Benjamin P. Cheney was so touched by area residents naming the relatively new town after him that he donated $10,000 to a school for teachers on the town's hill. Benjamin P. Cheney Normal School eventually became Eastern Washington College of Education, Eastern Washington State College and finally in the mid-1970s, EWU.

Richey said those private donations are more important than ever in the current climate of rising higher education costs, even with the Washington Legislature beginning to restore money it had cut from state universities as a result of the 2008-2009 recession. The result - even amidst the economic uncertainties of COVID-19 - has been a record $22 million raised in 2019-2020 in cash and scholarship pledges.

"Like I said, people have been generous through this pandemic," Richey said in a recent interview. "People want to support Eastern."

Some people saw the decline in state financial support coming long ago. Richey said former EWU President Stephen Jordan, 1998 – 2005, told her years ago that he wasn't sure if there would be any "state dollars" in 10 years.

During the 2009-2011 biennium, state funding for EWU operations declined $26.6 million, and during the 2011-2013 timeframe, it fell another $24.8 million - bottoming out at around $35 million in 2012 and 2013 - and forced the university to use about $9 million in reserves over those four years and reducing staffing by 91.5 full-time equivalent employees. At the same time, enrollment was increasing, and the state gave universities the authority to raise tuition to try to fill those funding holes.

State support has been increasing with the Legislature passed of the College Affordability Act, rising to around $48 million in 2016, $56.5 million in 2017, $58.5 million in 2018 and $60.32 million in 2019. But even with these increases, Eastern still relies a lot on student tuition money to fund its operations, and with that dollar amount continuing to increase, fundraising efforts to provide support for students is ever more needed.

Richey says the philosophy of Advancement is to be "mighty and lean." It's a small staff that relies on good market research and a base of over 100,000 alumni – many who have gone untapped when it comes to stewardship.

"There's a lot of opportunity out there," Richey said.

There's a lot of cold calling involved, but Richey and her team also make use of the donors they do have to help them establish connections with potential new ones. That relationship has paid off, especially since Eastern has used only nine fundraising events in the past, much less than other schools.

COVID-19 has cut into that, with Advancement doing a lot of Zoom meetings and online social events to help generate awareness and connections. Budget cuts have reduced marketing efforts to only two magazines touting Eastern's successes and opportunities.

But with fundraising activities limited and major marketing efforts cut, Richey said just talking to people has proved fruitful, especially now since the pandemic has restricted individuals movement and social interaction. While it's often difficult to directly ask for donations, Richey said they speak to people about opportunities such as an immediate gift, which doesn't need to be large, possibly a major donation and even future giving.

"People do want to talk, they're feeling lonely," Richey said.

That one-o-one interaction has led to fundraising successes from some unlikely and surprising sources. Especially in the area of planned giving - arranging donations over time and often as part of estates.

At the July 24 board of trustees meeting, Richey told members a woman in the Seattle area who had given a total of $25 to EWU over her lifetime and had no children passed away - leaving over $400,000 to the university in her will, to be split between the departments of accounting and social work. In early September, the university received a donation of 45 full-ride scholarships from the Krumble Foundation - a Spokane family that traditionally supports community colleges but also sees the value of a four-year education.

"They just had family members who went to Eastern," Richey said, adding that the value of the donation will be about $2.5 million over time.

There have been other more high-profile donations, such as $5 million from the McKinstry Foundation and Avista Foundation to help fund the Catalyst Building in Spokane and $5 million from area businessman and Cheney resident Jack Gillingham to help fund improvement's to the university's football stadium, Roos Field.

Recently, EWU Athletics received a $600,000 endowment from the estate of 1972 Eastern graduate Wayne Bartelheimer. The endowment will provide $24,000 annually to the Eagle Athletic Fund, which gives scholarships to EWU student-athletes.

Foundation funds such as the EAF are important, but separate from annual fundraising, Richey said. The university Foundation's endowment - not affiliated with the EAF - is a 501 © 3 organization managed as an investment fund.

Richey said at one point the endowment was struggling, with around 84 funds "underwater." That is not the case anymore as it has rebounded, growing from $15 million in 2015 to just over $25 million so far this year, with better investments and a 4% administrative fee on new giving helping spur the growth.

"Our endowment is rather small for a university our size," Richey said, adding that 99 % of the funds are dedicated to specific programs and/or scholarships.

"It's not a private endowment like other universities have, and use as a sort of slush fund," she said.

Even with the fundraising and endowment success, Advancement continues to set new goals each year. Richey doesn't know how the department will top the $22 million recently achieved, so has set a more pragmatic goal of $10 million, hoping to do that with a "blend of accounts" that include sizeable leadership gifts with annual donations.

"Hopefully we're planting seeds for the future," she said. "More than anything, we want to make a last impression about the value of Eastern Washington."

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].