Skip Navigation

Fill the Hill – Making a Difference for 10 years

For the 10th year, Bascom Hill will be transformed into a sea of pink flamingos when the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association holds its annual Fill the Hill event on October 20–21.

People flamingoing by the lake.

Fill the Hill is the largest day-of-giving initiative during the university’s fall annual campaign. For each gift given during Fill the Hill, a flamingo will be put on Bascom Hill to represent how private support helps UW–Madison maintain its excellence in education by supporting the university’s most immediate needs.

Over the past 10 years of Fill the Hill, more than 11,750 gifts have been made, raising more than $2,040,000. In 2021 alone, donors gave more than $436,000 through 2,238 gifts.

Tedd Snyder, a 1981 graduate of the College of Engineering, was a student when the Pail and Shovel student political organization planted more than 1,000 of the plastic birds on Bascom Hill. Tedd has donated every year since 2017. Watch his story of giving here:

New this year, WFAA is encouraging everyone to go “flamingoing” on social media by posting pictures of a flamingo pose, using #uwflamingos.

People flamingoing at the Memorial Union Terrace

Also new this year is a special 10-year celebration with activities and giveaways for students who stop by Bascom Hill from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 21. As always, donors who contribute $250 or more will receive their own plastic lawn flamingo.

The Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association loves to bring back the flamingos as a powerful way to unify alumni and friends, inspiring them to support the university’s mission and the UW for future generations.

Related News and Stories

More than $1.7 million raised for immediate needs at UW-Madison.