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February 1, 2008

Alumni Matching Gift Campaign Meets $1 Million Goal

Wisconsin alumni and friends all over the world responded to a challenge made by one of the Wisconsin Naming Partners. To help raise awareness of the need for unrestricted gifts to the school, one of the members of the Wisconsin Naming Partnership offered to match every individual gift given to one of the school’s unrestricted annual funds between October 27 and December 31, 2007, up to $1 million.

It was a high goal – in the entire year of 2006, gifts to unrestricted funds totaled just over $1 million. “Alumni recognized a terrific opportunity and stepped up to the challenge,” said Alumni Director Alisa Robertson. “In total, $1,072,853 was received, creating a record-breaking year for unrestricted gifts. “

Increasing the number of alumni who give back to the school each year continues to be a major priority. Currently, about 13% of all alumni of the Wisconsin School of Business make a gift to the school each year. The school is working to raise the participation rate to 20%, closer to that of Michigan, UCLA and Chicago GSB.

“The true strength of the Wisconsin School of Business continues to lie in the power of our many alumni,” said Dean Michael Knetter. “The result of the WNG Matching Campaign is a testament to the impact alumni can have together. The collective investment of our more than 36,000 alumni each year, combined with the resources of our naming gift, will allow us to have a more significant impact on business education.”