Next, Now Campaign closes with $2.19 billion in gifts

Benya Coleman, A&S ’26, and Silas Curry, CECH ’27, say that without the support of the Marian Spencer Scholars Program, they would not be enrolled at the University of Cincinnati.

Minutes away on the UC Health campus, nurse practitioners, therapists, nutritionists and social workers at the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute improve the lives of patients with ALS and provide multidisciplinary personalized care.

What these students and patients have in common is they were supported by donors to Next, Now: The Campaign for Cincinnati. The University of Cincinnati Foundation’s fundraising campaign for UC and UC Health officially ended on June 30, 2024, having raised $2.19 billion in overall donor support.

The campaign was launched publicly in 2019 in conjunction with the university’s Bicentennial year.   

Campaign donors provided paths to student success by creating 793 new scholarship and fellowship funds during the life of Next, Now. This includes the Marian Spencer Scholars, a program that provides 10 Cincinnati Public School graduates a year with full UC tuition, room and board, and additional resources and experiences. The program is in its third year, and there are currently 30 Spencer Scholars.

“I would not have been in college without the scholarship,” Coleman says. “I’m able to become a doctor which is my dream career. I am beyond thankful, and I hope in the future I can do something like this for someone else.”

During the campaign, the university received the largest donation to scholarships in its 200-plus-year history from the estate of Hugh H. Hoffman, MBA ’63. Hoffman’s $56 million estate gift created the Hoffman Honors Scholars program across three undergraduate colleges and will also provide support for UC student-athletes. The inaugural cohort of 12 Hoffman Honors Scholars will begin in the 2024-2025 academic year.

During the life of the Next, Now campaign, 37,287 unique donors contributed to scholarship funds at UC.

The Hoffman estate also gave $13.5 million that will revolutionize research and patient care related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at the ALS Multidisciplinary Clinic at the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute.

This gift will impact nearly 200 patients in the Tristate region each year. Since the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute opened its standalone outpatient facility in 2019, clinicians have provided care for more than 80,000 patients across 1,800 United States zip codes.

“ALS care at UC continues to grow in scope of care and research opportunities,” says Robert Neel, MD ’00, a specialist in ALS and autoimmune neuromuscular disorders and director of the ALS Multidisciplinary Clinic. “The Hoffman gift has opened new research doors already, and we have recently hired our dietician and counselor to help with care. Both are scheduling patients. I have never been so excited to be in this field.”

UC’s campus has transformed since the Next, Now launch. The College of Allied Health Sciences, Carl H. Lindner College of Business and College of Law have new student-focused spaces and buildings. The list of new facilities includes Clifton Court Hall, the university’s largest classroom building, serving the College of Arts and Sciences.

Donors also supported new facilities, patient care initiatives and research at UC Health, Greater Cincinnati’s academic health care system. Philanthropic investments allowed for the construction of the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute’s new outpatient facility as well as renovation of the inpatient Neuroscience ICU and construction of a new state-of-the-art emergency department at UC Medical Center.

The new University of Cincinnati Cancer Center Blood Cancer Healing Center, also powered by philanthropy, hosts 30 inpatient beds, outpatient clinics, 24-hour symptom support, infusion therapies, stem cell and cellular therapies and 40-plus clinical trials. 

Through the campaign, donors invested in research, innovation and the work of UC faculty members. This includes creating 33 new chairs and professorships to recruit and retain faculty excellence; 29 of these positions were endowed.

Other gifts expanded new lines of research into areas like cancer treatment. A collaboration between BSI Engineering and the nonprofit GIVEHOPE created a pilot grant program for research at the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center. These pilot research grants, awarded annually to investigators studying the causes, disease path and treatment for pancreatic cancer, are now a key pipeline for early-stage research that can lead to national funding and clinical trials.

This philanthropic partnership has made it possible for nine faculty researchers to launch 18 new studies into the causes and treatments of cancer. 

Donors propelled UC Athletics forward at the start of the campaign by funding renovations at Nippert Stadium and Fifth Third Arena. The Day One Ready campaign supported UC’s more than 450 student-athletes as part of the university’s move to the Big 12.

UC Athletics celebrated the largest gift in its history from Larry and Rhonda Sheakley, spearheading the multimillion-dollar Indoor Practice Facility and Performance Center. This facility will feature a 120-yard field, nutrition station, weight room and sports medicine offices, among other amenities. It will be the permanent, all-weather home for UC football to train year-round, and a versatile practice facility for other UC sports. 

The upgraded men’s and women’s basketball team facilities at Fifth Third Arena, including locker room enhancements, were funded entirely by donors.

The generosity of Bearcat supporters established student-wellness initiatives involving access to mental health services and additional registered dieticians.

Donors supporting the Women’s Excellence Fund immediately impacted female student-athletes by increasing each team’s nutrition budget, recovery tools, special equipment and facilities.

• 165,378 donors gave to the campaign.
• Donors were from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and 49 countries.
• 92.3% of gifts were under $1,000.

The Foundation’s previous campaign, Proudly Cincinnati, raised $1.1 billion by its June 30, 2013, close.

Neville G. Pinto, President, University of Cincinnati: “Our Bearcat family of donors and alumni has made a vast impact by supporting our students through scholarships, soaring new spaces, and life-altering opportunities for our student-athletes. This benevolent partnership has positioned us as we embark on the next 200 years of UC greatness.”

Cory D. Shaw, President & Chief Executive Officer, UC Health: “The influence our donors have on day-to-day patient care cannot be overstated. Their generosity enables recruitment of faculty and staff, introduction of new technologies and creation of new spaces in service of our essential mission.”

O. Richard Bundy, III, President, University of Cincinnati Foundation: “Our donors have demonstrated a commitment to excellence, ensuring that no one has to leave Cincinnati to receive the best possible education or world-class health care. Their generosity has allowed us to break through to the next level in academics, athletics, research, technology, innovation and culture.”

Featured image at top: Anusha Chitranshi and family at the University of Cincinnati commencement. Members of the Leukemia and Drug Development Lab at the UC College of Medicine. Photos/UC Foundation.