Donor Recognition

Members of the Western Washington Foundation's three giving societies enrich our campus community with their commitment to providing resources for students, staff, faculty, and scholars. They are the driving force behind the realization of Western’s mission and goals. Loyal donors ensure that we have the means to continue making a positive impact on our world through inclusive academic success and achievement.

In order to acknowledge our donors’ exceptional generosity and the foundational role they play in supporting Western, we are committed to recognizing our giving society members. We honor them by providing invitations to special academic experiences, exclusive impact updates, member-only events sponsored by senior leaders on campus, campus parking privileges, and more.

Western’s three fundamental giving societies are the President’s Society, 1893 Society, and Old Main Society. Each is designed to recognize a tiered level of donor commitment to the university. Every level is important, and every gift makes an impact. Our commitment to the loyal members of our giving societies is to celebrate the power and significance of their impact in creative and meaningful ways.

President’s Society

The President’s Society recognizes donors who make annual gifts of $1,000. Members enrich our university with continued generosity that strengthens Western's campus and supports our community. These sustaining gifts provide the foundation of philanthropy at Western and are pivotal to building a legacy of communal support. For more information on how to make your President's Society gift, please visit our Annual Giving webpage.

President's Society members can choose to designate their gift to their favorite college, department, scholarship fund, or program on campus, or to give to the Western Fund.

Impact: President’s Society members are the bedrock of our transformational Advanced Technology Building. This decarbonized, solar-powered university building, Kaiser Borsari Hall, will establish the prototype for a new type of sustainable, ultra-performance design and higher education facility—the very first in the region and one of few in the nation. The building realizes a bold vision to position Western as a clean technology leader while enabling us to meet the growing demand for STEM-educated professionals. Donors to this project will have their names written into campus history and displayed proudly on a donor wall for future generations to see.

Watch a video Mac Franks, Engineering ’22 created to share the impact this donor-funded building will have on his academic career.

To learn more about becoming a member of the President’s Society contact the Annual Giving office at giving@wwu.edu or (360) 650-3027.

1893 Society

New Whatcom Normal School was founded by the state and established in Bellingham (then called “New Whatcom”) in 1893. Over the next century, the name changed several times, finally becoming Western Washington University. Several lifetimes of work and development went into making Western what it is today, and the 1893 Society recognizes donors for cumulative giving of $25,000 or more over a lifetime.

Impact: 1893 Society Members are the changemakers who elevate our students’ capabilities. They provide funds in perpetuity that provide the resources our scholars use to build a brighter future for Washington, and the world.

Students in the Woodring College of Education took a moment last fall to thank scholarship donors for supporting them in their dreams of becoming educators.

To learn more about becoming a member of the 1893 Society contact Mark Bagley, Associate Vice President for Principal Gifts and Donor Relations at mbagley@wwu.edu.

Old Main Society

The Old Main Society recognizes donors for their future gifts to Western through their estate plans or other planned giving options. Membership in the Old Main Society begins as soon as donors sign documentation naming Western as a beneficiary. Gifts to the university may come through a bequest, trust, annuity or life insurance program. For more information about becoming a member of Old Main Society please visit our Planned Giving webpage.

Impact: Old Main Society members are the visionaries who provide our university with a supply of future resources to allow our students and faculty the space to grow, change, develop, and excel. Their planned gifts are the path forward to the Western of tomorrow, while their support in the now allows us to respond to students’ most urgent needs.

Many Old Main Society members contributed to the Student Emergency Fund, and our student ambassadors came together to create a message of thanks for them.

To learn more about becoming a member of the Old Main Society contact Matt Hammatt, Director of Planned Giving at Matthew.Hammatt@wwu.edu, or (360) 650-2443