Established in 1888, the University of Rhode Island is an institution steeped in history and brimming with excellence, opportunity and promise.

Rhode Island’s flagship state university, URI has over 15,000 students enrolled on its three campuses and nearly 700 outstanding and distinguished faculty members. Offering nearly 100 undergraduate majors, 48 areas of graduate degree studies and 36 doctoral concentrations, the University of Rhode Island provides virtually limitless opportunities to its diverse cadre of students.

With state-funded support to the University on the decline, currently at under 10 percent, securing, investing and managing private funding is more critical than ever to the University’s efforts to enhance its prominence and its academic competitiveness.

Our ability to offer student scholarships and graduate fellowships, support academic and research initiatives and construct state-of-the-art facilities rests, to a great extent, on our success in raising private donations. Whether from individuals or corporations and foundations, donations and gifts to the University of Rhode Island are a vital component of the University’s strategic plan.

The URI Foundation, established in 1957, is an independent, 501(c)(3) corporation charged with a number of activities including managing the university’s endowment portfolio. The Foundation also manages all fundraising and development activities on behalf of the University, which is in the midst of its $100 million Making A Difference capital campaign. The campaign seeks to achieve this financial goal to support the people, programs and initiatives that distinguish this great university. As of October, 2009, the campaign had achieved the $100 million mark-- a full 15 months early and was in the enviable position of surpassing the original $100 million goal by a significant measure at its close on December 31, 2010.

We invite you to navigate our site and explore the many ways of giving and all the important elements of our current campaign.