Giving to MCW

The Campaign Case for Support

As a private institution with a relatively small endowment, compared to other peer institutions, and marginal operating revenues, the Medical College of Wisconsin requires private support for new facilities and programs to elevate the College to the next level of leadership in research, medical education, patient care, and service. 

The $75 million contributed to the College during the 1996-2001 Advancing Medical Frontiers Campaign helped propel the College’s ranking from 57th to 45th among the nation’s 125 US medical schools. 

The College’s current campaign, still in a quiet phase, has received $115 million in seven years. The purpose of the campaign is: 

• To increase endowed and expendable funds to strengthen the College’s ability to recruit and retain first-rate faculty;
• To recruit the ablest medical and graduate students by making more scholarships, low interest loans, and educational program support available; and
• To enhance existing multi-disciplinary Center’s of Excellence, which coalesce research, teaching and patient care around focused health care problems and diseases, especially the Cancer Center, where our ultimate goal is to seek designation as a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The Medical College’s projected operating budget for the 2006-2007 fiscal year totaled $675 million. Clinical income offers only a small operating surplus, which is why philanthropy plays a critical role in organizational advancement. The College is a financially sound, dynamic organization. Research discoveries and increased patient need for leading edge treatments have helped the College become an engine for growth in southeastern Wisconsin. With 4,950 faculty and staff members, the Medical College is the 11th largest private employer in Metropolitan Milwaukee. Not only does the Medical College itself keep expanding, it also spurs the creation of complementary industries that in turn boost the area’s economy. 

Using a multiplier effect developed by the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center for its 2000 Economic Impact Study, the Medical College’s FY 2003-2004 budget of $510 million—the largest budget for any college or university in Metropolitan Milwaukee—provided an impact of $1.054 billion on Wisconsin’s economy. This same 2000 study found that out-of-area patients treated by Medical College physicians generated over $204 million for the local economy in 1998.