At WSU Tech in Wichita, Kansas, our workers are greater than educators and workers—they’re champions of pupil success. Each day, over 800 workers dedicate themselves to shaping the way forward for technical training and workforce improvement, getting ready college students for high-demand careers, and strengthening the workforce and economic system of Kansas and past. This deep dedication to college students extends past the classroom and campus. That is mirrored within the generosity of time and sources given to the WSU Tech Basis. 

Since its inception, the WSU Tech Foundation has primarily been supported by company companions that acknowledge the worth of technical training and spend money on our college students by hiring them into high-demand careers. Nonetheless, our workers have lengthy been the spine of the Basis’s mission, shaping college students’ futures not solely within the classroom but additionally by contributing their very own sources to make sure pupil success. School and workers have persistently demonstrated their dedication, inserting their belief within the Basis to help the scholars they work with daily. Up to now, the facility of worker giving at WSU Tech has positioned our workers as the only largest group of particular person donors to the WSU Tech Basis. 

A Legacy of Giving 

Worker giving at WSU Tech dates again to 2011, lengthy earlier than the Basis had devoted workers. What started as a grassroots effort to ship a cohort of Aviation Upkeep Technician college students to the MRO Americas competitors, with workers requested to contribute $5, quickly grew into an ongoing initiative. Most of the workers who participated in that first marketing campaign stay with the school right this moment, nonetheless donating to the Basis, a testomony to the deep-rooted tradition of giving at WSU Tech. 

From 2011 to 2019, worker donor participation steadily increased, reaching its peak in 2019. Nonetheless, after 2019, the WSU Tech Basis skilled a median decline of 9.5% in donors every year. Whereas the entire donation quantity continued to rise throughout this time, the lower within the variety of donors turned a rising concern. To the Basis, this decline represented extra than simply statistics – it indicated how successfully we have been educating workers in regards to the Basis’s influence and the way nicely we maintained the belief of our worker donors. 

This knowledge instantly led to a strategic shift in 2024. Slightly than specializing in rising the entire funds raised, we prioritized worker engagement and sought to rebuild consciousness, belief, and pleasure round giving. 

A New Strategy in 2024 

Recognizing this development, the WSU Tech Basis set a daring objective for 2024: shifting the main target from the greenback quantity raised to reigniting a tradition of giving amongst workers. Our intention was to deepen the connection between our workers, the Basis, and the scholars whose lives they assist form daily. To attain this, we prioritized storytelling, transparency, and interactive engagement. 

Key methods included: 

• Heartfelt Scholar Success Tales: Workers witnessed firsthand the influence of their contributions via tales of scholars who benefited from Basis help through shared thank-you notes and pupil interviews. 

• Private Thank-You Moments: Encouraging conferences between worker donors and the scholars who acquired their named scholarships–via the Basis’s annual scholarship luncheon or private conferences on campus to share a photograph and second of gratitude. 

• Month-to-month Giveaways: That includes experiences akin to a flight within the WSU Tech Personal Pilot Program aircraft, student-made presents akin to a welded flower bouquet or molded concrete rock, and unique alternatives akin to dinner on the President’s home or tickets to a collection at our native baseball stadium, these incentives reworked giving into an uplifting expertise. 

A serious milestone of the 2024 marketing campaign was the creation of the Worker Hardship Fund. This initiative acquired an overwhelmingly optimistic response, as workers acknowledged the importance of supporting not solely college students but additionally their fellow colleagues dealing with surprising monetary challenges. Many donors continued to contribute to student-focused initiatives whereas additionally donating to this new fund, additional deepening their engagement with the Basis. 

A Resurgence in Worker Giving 

The outcomes of our revitalized worker giving marketing campaign exceeded expectations. In 2024, we achieved: 

• A 21% improve in worker donors, with 60% of our full-time workers contributing to the Basis. 

• A 15% enhance in funds raised, making 2024 essentially the most profitable 12 months of worker participation because the marketing campaign’s inception in 2011. 

Past the numbers, this marketing campaign fostered a renewed sense of neighborhood and shared objective. WSU Tech workers demonstrated that giving is not only about monetary contributions, it’s about investing in our college students’ futures, supporting fellow workers, and reinforcing a tradition of giving that strengthens our total establishment. 

The Energy of Worker Advocacy 

WSU Tech workers are the Basis’s biggest advocates, volunteering their time, experience, and monetary sources to advance the school’s mission. Their belief within the Basis ensures that college students have the sources they should succeed, from scholarships and cutting-edge gear to emergency monetary help. The 2024 marketing campaign was not only a fundraising effort; it was a motion that bolstered the bond between workers, college students, and the Basis. 

As we glance forward, the momentum from 2024’s success has carried into 2025. The Basis’s annual fundraiser, Pull a Plane for Education, noticed the very best degree of worker engagement within the occasion’s four-year historical past. WSU Tech college and workers participated in each capability – attending, competing, and donating. One worker even created their very own mini-fundraiser, rallying their colleagues to contribute, with the added enjoyable of donating to see their coworkers get pied within the face! This rising tradition of engagement demonstrates that when WSU Tech workers unite, they make an simple influence – on college students, on one another, and on the way forward for technical training. 

On the WSU Tech Basis, our mission is to be the School’s companion in eradicating monetary limitations and empowering college students for the development of their lives and our area. None of this work can be attainable with out our devoted workers–the true champions of pupil success.