Northwestern Law announces more ambitious campaign goal

CHICAGO - The Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law has surpassed its initial campaign goal of $150 million, having raised $204 million to date as part of Motion to Lead: The Campaign for Northwestern Law. The Law School has announced plans to raise an additional $46 million to reach a new goal of $250 million in support from 10,000 donors. 

In September 2014, the Law School launched its $150 million Motion to Lead campaign, the largest fundraising campaign in the school’s history, to support financial aid, curricular innovation, law-business-technology programs and social justice initiatives.

“Through the outstanding generosity of our alumni community, led by J.B. and M.K. Pritzker, we exceeded our initial financial goals set forth when the campaign launched two years ago,” said Daniel B. Rodriguez, dean of Northwestern Law. 

“However, there is much to be done -- to address student debt, the changing legal profession and the tremendous influences of technology and globalization. How we as an institution address these challenges is truly an opportunity to distinguish ourselves, to separate from the pack.” 

With this in mind, the Law School has outlined a bold strategic plan, Leading Law.

The campaign has already impacted several key priorities from the strategic plan through the following initiatives:

• Nine new programs to make a law school education more affordable, with the Law School committing $2 million annually to assist students and alumni
• Two significant curricular additions: the Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship concentration and the Innovation Lab 
• Scholarship Challenge for Today and Tomorrow, encouraging the creation of endowed scholarships for current and future students through a generous match by J.B. and M.K. Pritzker
• Atrium expansion and state-of-the-art classroom for teaching and learning

Northwestern Law alumnus J.B. Pritzker and his wife, M.K. Pritzker, made an unprecedented $100 million gift to the Law School, which was announced during a special event in October 2015. The Law School was named the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law at that time. The Pritzkers’ primary intention was to increase the investment in student financial aid, in part through the Scholarship Challenge for Today and Tomorrow. In addition, the gift permanently endowed the Donald Pritzker Entrepreneurial Law Center, expanded the Law School’s law-business-technology programs and provided support for social justice centers at the Law School, including the Center on Wrongful Convictions and the Children and Family Justice Center.

Through the outstanding generosity of our alumni community, led by J.B. and M.K. Pritzker, we exceeded our initial financial goals … However, there is much to be done -- to address student debt, the changing legal profession and the tremendous influences of technology and globalization... . ”

Rodriguez said the more ambitious goal of $250 million from 10,000 donors will further “advance our mission of delivering superior legal education for the changing world to the most qualified candidates.” 

In line with its commitment to public interest work, the Law School also kicks off a 72-hour crowdfunding campaign today to raise $9,500 to fund a Global Public Interest Fellowship. This crowdfunding campaign invites 250 donors to give $38 each to enable a current student to work at a human rights organization abroad next summer.  

Motion to Lead is part of We Will. The Campaign for Northwestern, the University-wide fundraising initiative announced in March 2014. The “We Will” Campaign has raised more than $3 billion from more than 121,000 supporters, toward its goal of raising $3.75 billion from 141,000 supporters.