The ASU Foundation

Name

The ASU Foundation

Legal name

Arizona State University Foundation for A New American University

Website

https://asufoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1955

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education Fundraising and Endowment Management

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Major Gifts, Planned Giving & Endowment Development (EDALAOAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Advancement Services & Donor Operations (CRM, Gift Processing, Stewardship) (EDALAOAD), College Access, Scholarships & Student Success Nonprofits (BPAGADAE), Foundation/NGO & Philanthropic Scholarships (EDAIAOAH)

Keywords

• University fundraising
• Charitable donations
• Endowment management
• Donor relations
• Higher education philanthropy

Headquarters

HQ city

Tempe

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Charitable Donations: The primary revenue stream consists of charitable donations from individuals including cash gifts, cryptocurrency, vehicle donations, securities, and personal property. Donors can give one-time or recurring gifts through the ASU Link platform or by mail.
2. Planned Giving and Estate Gifts: Deferred giving vehicles including charitable remainder unitrusts, charitable lead trusts, gift annuities, beneficiary designations from retirement assets and life insurance, and gifts from wills and trusts.
3. Corporate and Foundation Grants: Corporate matching gifts, foundation grants, and corporate philanthropy partnerships. The Global Corporate Advancement team cultivates corporate partnerships while Foundation Development matches foundation interests with ASU research.
4. Real Estate and Property Gifts: Gifts of real estate including homes, vacation properties, undeveloped land, income property, and bargain sales where ASU purchases property below fair market value.
5. Endowment Gifts: Endowment gifts that provide sustainable long-term financial support. The endowment reached $1.7 billion in FY2025, placing ASU in the top 100 U.S. university endowments.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The ASU Foundation identifies, encourages, and engages private supporters to raise and manage charitable gifts for Arizona State University. It operates an online donor platform (ASU Link) and an e-commerce-style giving checkout supporting nearly 5,000 funds, and stewards a $1.7B endowment that funds scholarships, research, faculty support, and innovation programs including VR learning (Dreamscape Learn) and AI in education (Spark Center).

Product overview

The ASU Foundation operates a comprehensive philanthropy and fundraising platform for Arizona State University, consisting of multiple interconnected products and services. The core infrastructure includes ASU Link (a donor portal for tracking giving history and managing donations) and an Online Giving Platform (e-commerce-style checkout supporting Stripe, PayPal, ACH, and Apple Pay). The Foundation supports nearly 5,000 funds including The Charter Fund as the primary discretionary fund. Innovation-focused offerings include Dreamscape Learn (VR-based immersive learning), the Spark Center for Innovation in Learning (AI-powered educational technology), and PitchFunder (crowdfunding platform). Supporting services include scholarship programs, payroll deduction giving, and corporate matching gifts.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ASU Link Donor Portal Secure online donor portal for individuals to track giving history, manage payment methods, access tax receipts, view endowment reports, and direct donations to specific causes across nearly 5,000 funds.
• PitchFunder Crowdfunding Platform Crowdfunding platform enabling ASU community members to raise charitable funds for university-related projects, research, events, and organizations through personal-network engagement.
• The Charter Fund ASU's primary discretionary fund allowing university leadership to rapidly advance initiatives, partnerships, and research to transform public higher education. Gifts are matched up to $20,000 through June 30.
• Online Giving Platform E-commerce-style giving platform enabling donors to search and donate to nearly 5,000 different funds across ASU, with integrated payment processing via Stripe, PayPal, ACH, and Apple Pay.
• Scholarship Funds Collection of scholarship and fellowship programs supporting students across various colleges, including the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts Scholarships ($2M+ awarded annually), General Scholarship Fund, and program-specific scholarships.
• Payroll Deduction Gifts Giving option allowing ASU and ASU Enterprise Partners employees to make regular charitable donations automatically deducted from their paychecks through ASU Link or paper forms.
• Matching Gifts Program Corporate matching gift program that doubles or triples donor impact by matching employee contributions. Integrated with Double the Donation database for employer search functionality.
• Dreamscape Learn Development Fund Fund supporting the Dreamscape Learn immersive virtual reality learning platform developed in partnership with Dreamscape Learn, using VR technology to enhance student engagement and retention in STEM and other subjects.
• Spark Center for Innovation in Learning Support Fund Fund supporting the AI-powered innovation hub that leverages the OpenAI partnership ecosystem to advance educational technology, featuring the AI Collaboratory for neurodivergent learners, technical AI training, and a global startup competition.
• ASURITE-authenticated Donor Access Single sign-on integration using ASURITE (Arizona State University Rational Information Technology Environment) credentials with passkey authentication for ASU students, faculty, and staff to access ASU Link donor portal.

Quantifiable outcome

• Endowment reached $1.7B, ranking in top 100 U.S. university endowments
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability9 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and major.

• Mattel Inc. (Barbie)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2025Barbie partnered with ASU FIDM on summer fashion camps to invest in the next generation of fashion leaders.
• EdiktedminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2025LA-based style-led contemporary fashion brand partnered with ASU FIDM for summer fashion camps, supporting fashion education.
• IntelcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2025Intel provided a multimillion-dollar technology donation to expand ASU's artificial intelligence research capabilities as part of the Changing Futures campaign to advance technology for good, supporting a larger university priority to strengthen national AI research.
• Delta Dental of ArizonamajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2025Partnership to create SMILE-AI (Student-centered Medical Instruction and Learning in Oral Health powered by Artificial Intelligence) at the John Shufeldt School of Medicine and Medical Engineering.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• The Ohio State University Foundation: Direct peer — a top-100 U.S. public university foundation managing an endowment of comparable scale ($7B+) with a 501(c)(3) structure, multi-channel donor portal, and major-gift fundraising model that mirrors ASU Foundation's approach.
• Indiana University Foundation: Direct peer — a 501(c)(3) affiliated foundation serving a large public university with comparable donor base (~100K+), endowed scholarship programs, and capital campaign infrastructure similar to ASU's Changing Futures campaign.
• University of Michigan Office of Development: Direct peer — operates advancement/donor services and gift processing for one of the largest U.S. public research universities using a comparable major-gifts, planned-giving, and donor-CRM model.
• University of Florida Foundation: Direct peer — a 501(c)(3) supporting a top-10 public university with similar endowment scale (~$3B), online donor portal, and centralized advancement services model.
• UCLA Foundation: Direct peer — a similarly situated 501(c)(3) supporting a major public research university with parallel endowment, donor stewardship, and scholarship administration functions.
• University of Southern California (USC Advancement): Direct peer — USC's central advancement operation performs identical functions (major gifts, planned giving, donor stewardship, scholarship administration) for a similarly large research university on a comparable operating model.
• Stanford University Office of Development: Direct peer — Stanford's central development operation handles major-gift fundraising, planned giving, and donor-CRM stewardship for a top-tier university with the most-similar operational structure and 'destination university' fundraising approach.

Emerging players

• GiveCampus: Emerging player — a dedicated education-crowdfunding SaaS platform that directly competes with ASU Foundation's PitchFunder for university-community fundraising campaigns.

Broad incumbents

• GoFundMe (Charitable / Education Giving): Broad incumbent — operates a consumer-facing crowdfunding platform that competes for individual education-fundraising dollars, offering donors an alternative to institutional crowdfunding like PitchFunder.

Others

• Blackbaud (for fundraising/CRM): Others — provides the underlying CRM, gift processing, and donor-stewardship software used by university foundations including functions comparable to ASU Foundation's ASU Link donor portal.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/asufoundation
• Facebookfacebook.com/asufoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/3238042

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The ASU Foundation