Make a Gift
A gift to the Office of Child Care and Family Resources is an investment in students, families, educators, and the future of early learning at UW–Madison. Your generosity helps ensure that children receive high-quality care, student parents can stay enrolled and graduate, educators are supported in their work, and campus child care programs remain strong and sustainable.
OCCFR stewards multiple funds that address different, but deeply connected, needs across the UW–Madison Child Care and Education System. Whether you are drawn to supporting student parents in crisis, expanding campus child care capacity, strengthening educator professional development, or sustaining high-quality programs, your gift makes a meaningful and lasting impact.
Ways to Give
Did you know there are many ways to support OCCFR and UW–Madison beyond making a one-time online gift? Through the UW Foundation, donors can choose from a variety of flexible giving options—from online and mailed gifts to employer matching, donor-advised funds, gifts of stock, and planned or estate gifts. Exploring different ways to give can help you align your generosity with your financial goals while maximizing your impact. Learn more about each option and find the approach that works best for you.
Our Funds
Student Child Care Scholarship Grants Fund
Student parents balance the demands of academics, caregiving, and financial responsibility—often with little margin for unexpected challenges. When illness, loss of income, or family emergencies arise, access to affordable child care can quickly be jeopardized. This fund provides direct financial assistance to eligible student parents during times of crisis, helping them maintain care for their children and stay enrolled at UW–Madison.
Your gift ensures that unexpected hardship does not derail a student parent’s education or a child’s continuity of care.
New Campus Child Care Initiatives Fund
High-quality child care space on campus is limited, and demand continues to grow. The New Campus Child Care Initiatives Fund supports large-scale, forward-looking projects that strengthen early learning infrastructure, including expanding infant and toddler capacity, developing new child care spaces, upgrading playgrounds, and purchasing major equipment beyond a center’s operating budget.
Gifts to this fund help build the future of campus child care—expanding access, improving learning environments, and meeting the evolving needs of UW families.
Office of Child Care & Family Resources Fund
Child care centers rely primarily on tuition revenue, leaving little flexibility to absorb financial shocks or rising costs. Following the loss of state child care subsidies and ongoing increases in operational expenses, many campus centers face significant strain. This discretionary fund allows OCCFR to respond quickly and strategically to emerging needs across the system—supporting staffing stability, covering critical expenses, and sustaining high-quality care and education.
Your gift provides vital flexibility, helping campus child care programs remain resilient, stable, and responsive to needs.
Mary Czynszak-Lyne University Staff Child Care Award Fund
Unexpected financial hardship can place tremendous stress on working families. This fund provides one-time child care grants to University Staff experiencing emergencies such as medical expenses or family crises, helping them maintain consistent care for their children. By preventing disruptions in child care, the fund supports both family stability and workplace attendance and performance.
Your gift helps University Staff remain focused, supported, and secure while their children continue to thrive in care.
Lynn E. Edlefson Fund for Early Education Advancement
The quality of early learning depends on well-prepared, supported educators. This fund invests in both future and current early childhood professionals by providing scholarships to students completing full-semester practicums at campus or network centers, as well as grants for educators pursuing professional development or degree advancement.
Your support strengthens the early childhood workforce and ensures children benefit from skilled, knowledgeable, and inspired educators.
Connie L. Wilson Child Care Center Fund
Established by Connie L. Wilson and her family, this fund promotes excellence across UW–Madison child care centers. It supports professional development with nationally recognized experts, innovative programming, and operational needs that enhance quality and collaboration.
Gifts to this fund help ensure educators remain credentialed, informed, and empowered to deliver exceptional care and learning experiences for children.
Keep in touch with us!
Stay connected with the work you make possible. Explore stories and updates on the OCCFR Blog, and see the impact of your support in Badger Families Forward, our donor newsletter highlighting the students, families, and programs you help sustain.