Next, Now: The campaign for Cincinnati launches

Next, Now: The Campaign for Cincinnati, the comprehensive fundraising campaign for the University of Cincinnati and UC Health, was unveiled on Friday, Nov. 8, 2019, at Fifth Third Arena. The $2 billion campaign was launched as UC and UC Health celebrated the completion of UC’s Bicentennial year.

“The financial support of our generous benefactors, partners, alumni and friends is essential to our mission as a public university. It allows us to forge new pathways to success for students from all walks of life, generate breakthroughs, cures and creativity, and make a difference in our world, locally and globally,” said UC President Neville G. Pinto. “As we move forward from UC’s 200th anniversary to its future, we must ensure that UC continues to empower the next leaders, explore new frontiers, and embolden our community to address the challenges of today and beyond.”

“Our clinicians and specialized staff are leading the way forward, discovering breakthroughs in care delivery and treatments, and now, we will redefine the next frontier of world-class care,” said Dr. Richard P. Lofgren, president and CEO of UC Health. “Philanthropic support is an investment in our people, patients and community, including supporting subspecialty services that only UC Health can provide.”

The Next, Now Campaign will focus on raising money for scholarships and graduate student fellowships; research; the health and well-being of our region; and the signature programs and initiatives that are unique to UC and UC Health.

Support for the campaign will provide scholarships for generations of students to attend UC. Funding for research will attract top talent to UC and UC Health, opening doors for important breakthroughs. The campaign will elevate UC and UC Health’s visionary programs, centers of excellence and facilities. UC Health announced a master facility plan in October. 

The following transformative gifts were prior to the campaign’s public launch, including support for three building projects, advancements toward National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation and the UC College of Law’s Ohio Innocence Project (OIP): 

• A $15 million gift from Richard Rosenthal, the largest gift for UC Law and any innocence program, is advancing OIP’s efforts to develop and advocate for lasting criminal justice reform. To date, 28 wrongly convicted Ohioans have been released because of OIP’s work.
• The Gardner Family Foundation contributed $14 million to establish the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute. This donation supported the creation of the state-of-the-art clinical outpatient center that opened in April 2019.
• An $11 million gift from the Lindner family for the new UC Carl H. Lindner College of Business facility was the largest gift in the college’s history.
• The Farmer Family Foundation, the Fifth Third Foundation and Fifth Third Bank, and Procter & Gamble each donated $10 million, totaling $30 million, to support cancer research and the application for NCI designation.
• UC alumni Margaret Valentine, A&S ’71, and Michael Valentine, CEAS ’73, gave $5.5 million to benefit the Fifth Third Arena renovation project.
• With a $5 million gift, Timothy and Janet Johnson, established a named institute and interactive investment lab in the new Lindner College of Business.

“Next, Now is a campaign about people and possibility—when you invest in people, you invest in the future,” said UC Foundation President Peter E. Landgren. “Through this campaign, donors will invest in the transformation of our community, region and world, making us all collectively stronger and better than we are today.”

The goal of Next, Now: The Campaign for Cincinnati is to raise at least $2 billion by 2024. More than half of this amount has been raised in the quiet phase of the campaign. The last comprehensive campaign, Proudly Cincinnati, raised $1.1 billion by its June 30, 2013, close.  

Learn more about Next, Now: The Campaign for Cincinnati at: nextnow.uc.edu.

Featured image at top: Neville Pinto, President, University of Cincinnati; Robert L. Fealy, UC Foundation Board of Trustees; Rose Fealy; John Hayden; Richard P. Lofgren, MD, President & CEO, UC Health; Carrie Hayden, UC Foundation Board of Trustees.