School of Business > UPDATE > Summer 2002 > Article

The Bascom Hill Society Enhances Strong Ties

The University of Wisconsin Foundation recognizes the University of Wisconsin-Madison's most loyal and generous benefactors through The Bascom Hill Society. The Society was chartered in 1965 to encourage and foster support of the university, provide a framework within which lasting gifts and bequests can be made and provide proper recognition of donors and enable them to maintain a meaningful dialogue with the university community.

The UW Foundation strives to work with each Bascom Hill Society donor to ensure that his or her gift is structured in a manner to reflect both the donor's and the university's best interests and goals. Gifts to the School of Business can be designated for unrestricted use by the dean of the school to provide flexibility to respond to immediate needs, or they may be designated for specific uses such as professorships, scholarships, research projects or capital improvements. A donor may choose to allocate a gift for immediate disbursement or establish an endowment fund, typically named for a family member or other individual to be honored. The endowment fund generates annual expendable income for the purpose designated by the donor, and the principal remains in perpetuity.

Membership in the Society is achieved by individuals or couples with cumulative lifetime gifts of $25,000 or more, irrevocable deferred gifts, such as gift annuities, pooled income funds or other types of trusts of $25,000 or more, or revocable deferred gifts such as a bequest or revocable trust of $50,000 or more. Lifetime gifts can be made via pledges spread out over as many as 10 years. Gifts made to date and corporate matching gifts also apply toward membership.

The Society also sponsors a variety of activities to help donors and friends become better informed about the university. A major event is held in Madison each fall, during the weekend of the first at-home Big Ten football game. In past years, the weekend has kicked off with a Friday evening reception and dinner where guests were welcomed by the chancellor and received a presentation from a university faculty or staff member highlighting a particular research or academic program. Last year's program included a presentation on the ethics of biotechnology, including stem-cell research. This year's program will feature a historical perspective on the UW-Madison campus by Ken Frazier, the director of UW-Madison Libraries. The evening typically concludes with a performance by a university-related performing arts group. On Saturday, a reception and tailgate will be held at Union South prior to the football game at Camp Randall. Other events are sponsored by the Society throughout the year, both in Madison and throughout the country.

Currently there are nearly 1,000 School of Business alumni and friends who are Bascom Hill Society members among the more than 4,600 members overall. (The membership list for 2001 can be found starting on page 21.) Individuals interested in learning more about the deeper association with the university that membership in the Bascom Hill Society offers are asked to contact the UW Foundation: Jim Kubek, 608/265-7942, jim.kubek@ uwfoundation.wisc.edu, or Eric Billman, 608/265-2609, eric.billman@uwfoundation.wisc.edu.