Home > Gazette > November 2007

Leveraging the $85 Million Naming Gift to Wisconsin School of Business

On Saturday, Oct. 27, the School of Business received an unprecedented gift totaling $85 million from a small group of alumni. The announcement of the gift was made at the school’s Homecoming Bash and webcast on the school’s home page, so alumni around the country could view the announcement. (For more on the gift, or to watch the video announcement, go to www.bus.wisc.edu/wng).

A second live webcast to alumni will be held on Friday, Nov. 9 at noon to discuss the impact of the naming gift and provide information on a new alumni Matching Gift campaign. (The webcast will be viewable from the business school home page). Every individual gift made to the Wisconsin School of Business Annual Fund, the MBA Program Fund, or the Undergraduate Program Fund between Oct. 27 and Dec. 31, 2007, will be matched dollar for dollar by one of the Wisconsin Naming Partners. Alumni Relations is coordinating a major outreach effort to all business school alumni with the aim of increasing the participation rate to that comparable to other top business schools. For information on the Matching Gift campaign, go to www.bus.wisc.edu/wng/getinvolved.asp.

To increase national awareness of the naming gift and the Wisconsin School of Business brand among alumni and prospective students, newspaper ads announcing the gift were placed in the Wall Street Journal, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Chicago Tribune and Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

News of the gift was covered by numerous local, regional and national media outlets, including Bloomberg.com, The Chicago Tribune, CNNMoney.com, Chronicle of Philanthropy, Chronicle of Higher Education, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, to name a few.  Highlights can be viewed at: www.bus.wisc.edu/wng/presscoverage.asp.

Traffic to the school’s website, driven by the ads and news coverage, increased 63 percent on the Monday following the announcement. The school plans to continue to spread the word about the naming gift among key constituents and important media outlets to increase awareness of the school’s outstanding programs, faculty and students.

Marketing Services is developing a set of brand identity guidelines to reflect the new logo for the Wisconsin School of Business, for use in all applications. These guidelines will include not only logo usage, but the look, feel and voice tied to the Wisconsin School of Business brand. The guidelines will reflect the major branding work that has been going on during 2007 for the school, of which the logo is one part. Visual language and copy guidelines based on the school’s value proposition and brand personality also will be covered. During the transition, faculty and staff are asked to make prudent use of existing materials.

The naming gift will preserve the Wisconsin name for at least 20 years. During that time, the school will not be named for a single donor or entity. The Wisconsin naming gift is the first of its kind received by a U.S. business school. Conventional business school naming gifts adopt the name of a single donor in perpetuity. By preserving the Wisconsin name for 20 years, this gift leaves open the option of future naming gifts.

In announcing the gift, UW-Madison Chancellor John D. Wiley called it “a creative act of philanthropy and a major milestone for our university. These partners have stepped forward to ensure that their deep pride in this school, this university and this state is passed along to the next generation of business students.”

The 13 gifts were made by: Paul and Carol Collins; Wade and Beverly Fetzer; Pete and Pat Frechette; Jon and Ann Hammes; Ted and Mary Kellner; Paul and Julie Leff; Sheldon B. and Marianne Lubar; John and Tashia Morgridge; Albert O. “Ab” and Nancy Nicholas; John and Anne Oros; H. Signe Ostby and Scott Cook; and two donors who wished to remain anonymous. Each partner committed a minimum of $5 million to join the partnership.

“The generosity of these alumni will enable the business school to build on its reputation of leadership and innovation. It’s the sort of forward thinking you can expect from Wisconsin alumni,” said Dean Mike Knetter. “The gift will help guarantee faculty excellence, keep the school’s nationally recognized undergraduate program strong, enhance the resources available to the school’s specialized Wisconsin MBA programs and bolster the school’s world-renowned executive education programs.”