Community First, Asks Second: How WIS Grew Annual Giving 38% in One Year

Entering FY27, does it feel like your annual fund has plateaued? You're not alone. Many fall appeals settle into a rhythm: nothing’s broken, but the dollars aren’t growing either.
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Walker Konkle, Director of the Annual Fund at Washington International School (WIS), ran into that exact problem, and decided to try something different: shift WIS's annual fund culture from one built around the ask to one centered on community. He started with what makes WIS’s community unique, then built smarter, more targeted asks on top of that. The result, in FY26, with the same steady participation as FY25, WIS saw a 38% increase in giving, driven almost entirely by existing mid-level donors upgrading into higher giving tiers.
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Catch the webinar recording to hear what community-centered giving meant for WIS, and how you can bring the same thinking into your FY27 annual fund, without the trial and error.

You'll leave with four new strategies for where to focus your time this fall, and a peer school success story to help guide you, with the chance to get your questions answered live.

On-Demand