From the Nominator

In FY25, California State University, San Bernardino advanced its annual giving strategy during a pivotal transition year marked by a 67% reduction in full-time staff and the impending close of its comprehensive campaign in FY26. Rather than scaling back efforts, the Annual Giving team intentionally refined its approach by prioritizing high-affinity alumni, disciplined segmentation, and operational efficiency to strengthen the long-term sustainability of the annual fund. The Global Day of Giving served as an anchor within a broader annual plan designed to expand participation, elevate student-centered crowdfunding, and improve donor quality. To reduce internal complexity and sharpen messaging, the team decreased solicitation volume by 19% and consolidated featured projects from 20 to 12, allowing for deeper audience targeting and more personalized outreach across alumni chapters, volunteer leaders, faculty, staff, students, and community supporters. A unified, story-driven campaign called “Detective Cody’s Case of the Missing Donation Box” provided messaging for email outreach to 69,000 records, peer-to-peer ambassadors, social storytelling, phone calls, and campus activations. This integrated approach strengthened cross-campus collaboration, while reinforcing philanthropy’s direct impact on scholarships, athletics, and student support services. The campaign engaged 603 donors, retained 46% of prior-year supporters, acquired 207 first-time donors, and reactivated 84 lapsed donors. Alumni participation increased 27.7% year-over-year, revenue rose 7.3%, and average gift size grew 20.8%. Through strategic refinement and disciplined execution, CSUSB strengthened annual giving infrastructure and positioned the program for growth beyond the campaign close.

From the Judges

This campaign demonstrated exceptional discipline by prioritizing quality over volume. It reduced solicitation frequency to focus on highly segmented, high-impact outreach. By using a fun, multi-faceted approach—including "gamified" marketing and voices from across the campus community—the team unified diverse audiences and communicated a clear sense of urgency during a challenging period. While the return on investment was lower than that of some peers, the diversity of successful metrics confirms that the strategic intent was realized. Ultimately, this initiative serves as a creative example of how a condensed plan can reach institutional goals while streamlining efforts.