Community Response to Historic Philanthropic Campaign Sets Records

Milwaukee, Wis. — Hope to Health: The Campaign for the Medical College of Wisconsin and Froedtert Hospital, raised a record amount of philanthropic support from donors to support the campaign's broad strategic priorities, including cancer research, student scholarships, and new technologies to improve patient care and outcomes.

Contributions to the campaign, which commenced on July 1, 2015, exceeded the original campaign goal of $200 million by more than 50 percent.

"This campaign was about securing the future of healthcare for us all," said Linda Mellowes, an MCW emerita trustee, community leader and key advisor for the campaign. "I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished to build safer, healthier and more equitable communities."

John R. Raymond, Sr., MD, MCW president and CEO, launched the campaign with Cathy Jacobson, president and CEO of Froedtert Health, in 2015 to elevate access to research-based healthcare across the region, boost education programs for medical professionals, address the devastating burden of cancer and support partnerships with the community to reduce healthcare disparities.

"The leadership and generosity of our donors will benefit this community for generations," said Dr. Raymond. "These philanthropic investments bolster all of our work — from new medical discoveries that cure disease and treat injuries to addressing the health disparities that have kept our community behind economically and socially, including racial inequities that require our urgent attention."

"As the only adult academic health system in eastern Wisconsin, we already have been taking on the toughest problems in medicine and delivering care for patients and families not available anywhere else in the region." adds Jacobson. "Philanthropy sustains these efforts and demonstrates this community's strong endorsement that our work is critical to our future."

The philanthropic campaign was the first joint effort for both MCW and Froedtert Hospital, which maintains a joint Office of Institutional Advancement and Alumni Relations, led by Mitchell Beckman, vice president and chief development officer for both institutions.

The campaign focused on four key pillars: accelerating research and advancing patient care, transforming healthcare education, leading the way in cancer research and care, and driving health and vitality for the community.

Community leaders who guided the campaign included Jon Hammes, Ted Kellner, David Lubar and Linda Mellowes. During the campaign, 48,603 gifts were received from 28,328 donors, including contributions from 17,973 new donors. MCW alumni contributed 15 percent of all gifts totaling $45 million. Gifts from MCW and Froedtert Hospital faculty and staff during the campaign totaled $9 million.

Key fundraising statistics include:

  • $32 million raised for 16 new endowed chairs, professorships and deanships
  • $125 million raised for research and new medical discovery
  • 55 gifts of $1 million or more totaling $165 million
  • $91 million raised for cancer research
  • $45 million contributed by MCW alumni
  • $68 million for endowed funds
  • 65 new scholarship funds totaling $18 million
  • $18 million for patient care programs
  • $9 million contributed by MCW and Froedtert faculty and staff

About the Medical College of Wisconsin
With a history dating back to 1893, The Medical College of Wisconsin is dedicated to leadership and excellence in education, patient care, research and community engagement. More than 1,400 students are enrolled in MCW's medical school and graduate school programs in Milwaukee, Green Bay, and Central Wisconsin. MCW's School of Pharmacy opened in 2017. A major national research center, MCW is the largest research institution in the Milwaukee metro area and second largest in Wisconsin. In the last ten years, faculty received more than $1.5 billion in external support for research, teaching, training and related purposes. This total includes highly competitive research and training awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Annually, MCW faculty direct or collaborate on more than 3,100 research studies, including clinical trials. Additionally, more than 1,600 physicians provide care in virtually every specialty of medicine for more than $2.8 million patients annually.

About the Froedtert & MCW regional health network
The Froedtert & MCW regional health network is a partnership between Froedtert Health and the Medical College of Wisconsin supporting a shared mission of patient care, innovation, medical research and education. Our health network operates eastern Wisconsin's only academic medical center and adult Level I Trauma Center at Froedtert Hospital, Milwaukee, an internationally recognized training and research center engaged in thousands of clinical trials and studies. The Froedtert & MCW health network, which includes eight hospital locations, nearly 2,000 physicians and more than 45 health centers and clinics, draws patients from throughout the Midwest and the nation. In our most recent fiscal year, outpatient visits exceeded 1.2 million, inpatient admissions to our hospitals were 52,807 and visits to our network physicians totaled 947,136.