The University of Wisconsin Center for Nonprofits will receive $100,000 from the Oscar Rennebohm Foundation to expand the center’s work, with an additional $50,000 donation from the Morgridge Center for Public Service gift matching program.

The funds from the Oscar Rennebohm Foundation follow a longstanding relationship with the Center for Nonprofits — an organization supporting education, research and outreach on campus — since its founding in 2008 within the School of Human Ecology.

“We’re just very excited about this partnership. … The Rennebohm Foundation has seen a great synergy between these two centers, and so we just really appreciate their longstanding support,” Dean of the School of Human Ecology Robin Douthitt said.

The foundation’s gift will also be matched by a $50,000 donation from the Morgridge Center’s gift matching program, which matches up to 50 percent of donations to programs that fit with the Morgridge Center’s mission.

“We’re trying to encourage and support community-campus partnerships,” Morgridge Center Associate Director Randy Wallar said.

He added the service learning and community-based research at the Center for Nonprofits directly aligns with the Morgridge Center’s core values of promoting civic engagement and public service.

Executive Director of the Center for Nonprofits Jeanan Yasiri said the funds from the Oscar Rennebohm Foundation and the Morgridge Center will be used to expand the newly created undergraduate major of nonprofit and community studies, to develop a PhD program and to conduct community-based research.

“We’re developing programs that bring nonprofit professionals to campus and allow them to learn with both undergraduate and graduate students on key topics associated with nonprofit, community-based issues, and we’re really excited about the opportunity to advance that,” Yasiri added.

The Center for Nonprofits also has plans to incorporate more service learning into courses in the undergraduate major as well as bringing nonprofit professionals to UW, Yasiri added.

“We’re so excited that the Rennebohm Foundation and the Morgridge Center could team together on this remarkable gift,” Yasiri said. “They’re both entities that our Center for Nonprofits has enjoyed so very much working with, and we really appreciate their ability to team on expanding our opportunity to be of service.”