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Annual Giving

Join the AU community to support purpose-driven students and scholars who create meaningful change in the world.

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The AU Funds Making a Difference Today

The AU Funds help advance knowledge, build community, and empower lives of purpose, service, and leadership.

Your gift can be utilized immediately to address pressing needs and new opportunities—your support impacts the AU community today.

Make a Gift

Your gift inspires excellence at American University by supporting bright students, high-caliber faculty, and significant research that benefits society, promotes innovation, contributes new knowledge, and improves lives.

The AU Fund for Excellence

Gifts to the AU Fund for Excellence are unrestricted and applied to areas of the greatest need—as new opportunities and challenges arise. This flexibility makes it among the most effective ways to support our university and impact all areas of campus, from students and faculty to the campus environment.

The AU Fund for Student Support

The AU Fund for Student Support provides essential resources for the current needs of students. Gifts offset the costs of unpaid internships, research opportunities, travel for study or service, and textbooks. This support can be life-changing and helps ensure all students have the chance to experience all that AU has to offer.

The AU Fund for Faculty, Research, and Innovation

AU faculty are known for tackling the world’s most pressing challenges. Gifts to this fund amplify their work by providing resources to develop innovative courses, pursue cutting-edge research, and fuel AU’s centers and institutes, which foster collaboration and groundbreaking advancements.

You may also direct your support to an area particularly important to you through one of the funds below:

The Student Affairs Fund supports student groups and activities that foster learning and leadership. Gifts to the fund help students thrive by boosting their sense of belonging on campus and becoming more deeply engaged in a well-rounded AU experience.

Donors may make a gift to a school or college Dean’s Fund to help provide scholarships, student enrichment, academic innovations, faculty support, and technology upgrades for Eagles in an area of AU most meaningful to them.

Gifts to the Library enhance its wide range of physical and electronic collections to meet the changing needs of our diverse community of students and support their learning. Gifts also fund updates to technology and facilities housing growing collections.

Gifts to Athletics directly benefit AU student-athletes on the court and in the classroom by providing funding for scholarships, academic services, life-skills development, and recruitment—supporting our commitment to character forged through competition. Our successful Athletics program boosts AU pride, making a gift to Athletics an investment in all Eagles.

Parents can further invest in the AU experience with a gift to the Parent Fund, which provides flexible support to address student needs across campus. Financial aid, facilities improvements, and student-life programs all benefit from parent and family support—as do the richness and diversity of every Eagle’s AU education.

Giving Societies

American University also recognizes donors for their support of the university with four giving societies, Honored Benefactors, the President's Circle, the 1893 Society, and the Helen Palmer Kettler Society. Learn more about our giving societies.