A Challenging Donation

William Waters, a professor emeritus at the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, has issued a challenge to fellow University of Toronto donors to support struggling students. And he has given them a hefty financial incentive to do so. Earlier this year, Waters donated $2.5 million to be shared among the Faculty of Music, Woodsworth College and the Transitional Year Programme (TYP) to fund student awards. But Waters wants his gift to generate even more for students. A challenge component encourages others to donate another $2.5 million, which will be fully matched under the Ontario Student Opportunity Trust Fund (OSOTF) program and, in the case of gifts from faculty and staff, by the university. The prospective result: more than $12.5 million – $7.5 million for music and $2.5 million each for Woodsworth and TYP.

“In part, I am making this gift because of the special matching opportunity provided by the university’s faculty and staff gift match and the province’s Ontario Student Opportunity Trust Fund program,” Waters says. “The economist in me likes the fact that I can leverage the gift three-to-one.”