Once again, plastic pink flamingos flocked to Bascom to cover the hill for the university’s annual fundraising campaign.

Officially called Fill the Hill, this year the University of Wisconsin Foundation teamed up with a pilot program at the UW School of Business, bringing attention to the tradition to promote student involvement in the fundraising effort.

https://twitter.com/BeckyBlank/status/519568980759957505

But the event does not have roots in philanthropy. In 1979, the Pail and Shovel Party pulled the original prank while running for reelection to the student governing body, UW Foundation spokesperson Jim Kennedy said.

What started as a prank is now a successful event encouraging alumni and student donations to University of Wisconsin, he said.

The annual donations campaign for UW happens from Oct. 1 through the end of the year, he said.

“We really didn’t have a dollar goal as much as a participation goal,” Kennedy said. “One of our goals is to get folks involved, and so our goal was to have 800 people participating. I am happy to say we beat that before 4 o’clock.”

Proceeds go “back to the university and its students 100 percent,” Kennedy said, funding items like student scholarships with funds from alumni and other university supporters. 

We always knew our alumni were the best. We reached our goal and we couldn't have done it without you! #YouShareUW pic.twitter.com/N5J9lqMM6H

— Wisconsin Alumni (@WisAlumni) October 7, 2014

Matteo Garcia, project assistant in the Alumni Relations Department, said the School of Business wanted to get students engaged in the annual campaign, running a booth to spread information on it.

“Today, we had a booth set up in the west atrium of Grainger Hall, the Business School building, where we looked to get face time from students,” Garcia said. “We wanted for them to understand what giving means to Wisconsin and kind of the tradition that goes behind it.”

The donations collected in Granger Hall are going directly to the School of Business, he said.

The flamingos are quirky and iconic, Kennedy said, causing people to have an affinity for them. He added people who pledged more than $250 could have their name on a flamingo and would then get the flamingo sent to them after the event.

Kennedy joked that the flamingos “fly in from South America.”

“Actually we got a bunch of them from Home Depot and other sources,” Kennedy said. “Since we did it last year, we had a lot left over. In total there is about 1,400 of them that ended up on the hill this year.”