MPK&D celebrates with client Texas Woman’s University as they receive the largest donation in their history from TWU alum and BuzzBallz CEO Merrilee Kick. The $30 million gift propelled the university past its 125th Anniversary Dream Big comprehensive campaign target of $125 million, reaching the goal two years early. The donation will benefit TWU’s College of Business, where Kick earned an MBA in 2009 as a nontraditional student. BuzzBallz, pre-mixed cocktails packaged in distinctive round shatter-resistant containers, were Kick’s brainchild and the basis of her master’s thesis at TWU. The gift will allow the university to fund an endowed chair and construct a College of Business building on its Denton campus.
Kick’s donation joins an earlier milestone gift from a year ago, when a record $15 million from the Doswell Foundation allowed TWU to establish a new aviation program. MPK&D has been honored to support Texas Woman’s University and its campaign and fundraising initiatives since 2019.
More information can be found on TWU’s Merrilee Alexander Kick College of Business and Entrepreneurship news page as well as in a feature article on the August 12, 2024, Gifts Roundup in the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
