A male and female, dressed in blue robes, smile at their graduation from the University of Delaware.

Why Give

TO THE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE

UD’s extraordinary success is fueled by the power of collective giving. Every donor and every gift makes a profound impact on the University community.

 

Every year, thousands of alumni, parents, friends, faculty, staff and students give back to UD.

 

They give to change the world. They give to propel UD forward. They give for reasons as vibrant and varied as UD's people and programs. Most importantly, they give because they believe in the University of Delaware.

 

Why will you give? Make your gift today. 

Your Generosity, Their Success


Dedicated UD donors help transform lives and the world by empowering students, changing campus, inspiring faculty and building a lasting legacy at the University.
 

Preschool children play with figurines and horses at the College of Education and Human Development’s Early Learning Center.

THE VALUE OF PLAY

Professor Myae Han received the national Brian Sutton-Smith Play Scholarship Award for outstanding contributions to the field of play and child development.

Celeste Phillips, a sophomore honors nutrition and dietetics major, prepares jollof rice, a traditional dish from Nigeria, for her Food Concepts class.

FOOD CONNECTS US

Nutrition and dietetics students are learning how food connects people, cultures and communities by conducting food-based experiments and testing culturally themed recipes.

UD student Jackie Means won Miss Caribbean US 2025 and was voted Miss Congeniality by her fellow contestants.

THE STEM QUEEN

Sophomore Jackie Means uses her nonprofit Girls Empowerment STEM Initiative and her participation in beauty pageants to inspire underprivileged girls to pursue interests in STEM.

The Delaware State Health Improvement Plan team has identified five priority health outcomes: mental health, maternal and infant health, chronic disease, avoidable injury and premature death.

MAKING WAVES IN HEALTH

UD’s Partnership for Healthy Communities and Epidemiology program have been working with the Delaware Division of Public Health to develop the Delaware State Health Improvement Plan.

UD doctoral student Tianyu Zhou is pictured on the right using a shovel to remove snow that covers the sea ice during a research cruise to the Arctic Ocean in the fall of 2024. Within the square that is cleaned by the shovel, the team measured the thickness of the snow layer and drill into the sea ice.

EXPLORING THE ARCTIC OCEAN

Doctoral student Tianyu Zhou spent a month at sea on a research cruise to the Arctic to measure the oxygen-to-argon ratio in the surface water.

Two University of Delaware researchers — Curtis Johnson (left), associate professor of biomedical engineering, and Austin Brockmeier (right), assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering — have found that measuring brain stiffness is a reliable way to predict brain age. In these images, you see a scan of a young adult’s brain in the top row and an older adult’s brain in the bottom row. The brain’s basic anatomy is shown in the scan on the left, its stiffness on the right. The younger brain is much stiffer than the older brain, with the warmer colors reflecting that stiffness.

BRAIN AGE AND HEALTH

Professors Curtis Johnson and Austin Brockmeier have devised techniques that can help identify structural differences in brains that differ from the natural aging process.

“I give to education because I believe in it. When students succeed, we all succeed. My gifts enable students to gain experience in the wider world—and bring visibility to the programs that my colleagues, staff, students and alumni work hard to develop.”

 

- Greg Shelnutt, Chair, UD Department of Art & Design

Support your UD Passion

 

Your gift of any amount, to any of our 100+ funds, makes a profound difference for the University and its students.  

HenFunder logo.

HenFunder
 

Join fellow Blue Hens in supporting a cause close to your heart through HenFunder, the University’s crowdfunding platform. UD students, alumni, faculty and staff use this unique platform to raise funds for initiatives and programs that will significantly impact members of the University community.

 

Blue Hen Strong Fund

Blue Hen Strong Fund

 

The BHSF has evolved into UD’s leading tool for rapid-response projects. From housing grants for displaced students; to free virtual mental health counseling; to internship support for those who can’t afford to accept unpaid opportunities; to a laptop loaner program that expands access to necessary technology: the Blue Hen Strong Fund delivers immediate support to students.

Three students sit together and smile.

Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Fund


The JEDI Fund will help provide programs, resources and opportunities to cultivate educated and empowered individuals who not only understand societal challenges related to equity and social justice, but have the tools to create solutions to address them.


Explore more areas where you can make an impact.

“We were really inspired by the vision of President Assanis and Dr. Kelvin Lee. They talked about how it takes some cancer patients months to get the treatment they need. In the new biopharmaceutical center, they will research how to bring much-needed medicines to market for patients much quicker, creating faster and better access to care and saving lives. This center will do so much for creating jobs, enhancing education in this field and advancing health care—the trifecta of elements that can make such a big difference for so many.”

 

- Marie E. Pinizzotto, M.D., BE08M

Philanthropy is Everywhere: youtube.com/watch?v=FunQvDxHiVs

Philanthropy is Everywhere

 

Azhir Jones, a UD sophomore majoring in entrepreneurship, is here to set the record straight on what philanthropy really means at UD.  

Learn More