Types of Gifts

Your gift matters. There are many ways to make sure your gift matches your intentions. Below are general types of support to help you explore your options.

Whatever your area of interest or personal circumstances, you can find the right fit. There are options for near-term and long-term giving, and even ways to benefit yourself and your loved ones into the future.

Diverse group of engineering students working in a lab

RhodyNow for Immediate Use

You can give at any time to any area of URI for near-term use through RhodyNow. These gifts are vital in helping students and faculty take advantage of new opportunities and adapting to changes throughout the academic year.

In addition to RhodyNow: Immediate Use, you can direct gifts to areas that match your interests and go to work right away, including:

  • RhodyNow: Scholarship
  • The Students First Fund
  • The URI College of your choice
  • Graduate Programs
  • Club Sports
  • The Robert L. Carothers Library

Recurring gifts: You can have an impact all year long by scheduling monthly or quarterly gifts on our online giving page. This allows us to respond immediately and compassionately to urgent needs as they happen.

Group of students working in a lab

Endowed Gifts

An endowed gift allows you to support the purpose of your choice, forever. Your gift creates a fund to be invested with the URI endowment. As the investment grows so does the benefit to your designated purpose.

You can choose to name the fund for your family, yourself, or someone at URI who made a difference for you. You may also give to an existing endowed fund.

The URI endowment is a sign of the University’s strength. It is key to our future as a world-renowned teaching and research institution. The endowment maintains a diverse portfolio with investment returns that support long-term priorities.

Endowed gifts provide a dependable, permanent source of funding for scholarships, professorships, and facilities that make a difference year after year. These gifts have the added benefit of making URI more competitive in attracting outstanding students and faculty.

Male student in a corporate setting

Corporate and Foundation Gifts

Support from corporations and foundations takes many forms, including gifts for endowment, faculty, facilities, scholarships and fellowships, research, public outreach, internships, sponsorships, technology transfer, diversity programming, and access to education for underserved audiences.

Through the Business Engagement Center, your corporation can connect with the vast resources of the University. You can sponsor research, conduct technology or intellectual property transfer, seek information about licensing, receive workforce training, connect with students for internships, and more.

By working to match your organization’s interests with the needs of the University we can pursue mutual goals and make a tremendous difference for URI and the broader community.

Quad with students sitting on the grass

Planned Gifts

A planned gift can provide for the future of the University of Rhode Island while helping you achieve your financial goals. There are a variety of options offering numerous benefits, such as a dependable income stream for you and your family, as well as current and future tax savings.

Some of the most popular options include:

  • Including URI in your will
  • Designating URI as a beneficiary in your retirement plans or life insurance
  • Receiving income through charitable gift annuities and charitable remainder trusts

With your planned gift, you will become a member of the Oliver Watson Society. Your commitment today can ensure the excellence of a URI education for generations to come.

Matching Gifts

Your employer, and your partner’s employer, may match charitable contributions. Find out if your employer participates.