Parent & Family Giving

As part of our vibrant and proud extended family, you sustain and strengthen Brown's distinctive brand of academic excellence and enhance educational opportunity for all students through your generosity.

Breadcrumb

Parent & Family Giving

As part of our vibrant and proud extended family, you sustain and strengthen Brown's distinctive brand of academic excellence and enhance educational opportunity for all students through your generosity.

Building a Future Together

When your student enters Brown, a new world—one that you, your student, and Brown build together—comes alive. This shared journey into excellence and educational opportunity becomes even more meaningful for some families when they give through the parent and family giving program. In fact, Brown’s tradition of parental support—which accounts for nearly 20% of the total philanthropy to the University each year—is the most robust in the Ivy League.

When it comes to giving, engaged parents and families have several choices: 

  • The Parents Fund. An annual giving fund that allows Brown to maintain and expand the unparalleled educational opportunities and resources that ensure the success of our students.
  • Programmatic support. Current-use funds in many priorities that offer families a choice to expand their giving in areas where their students are engaged. 
  • Capstone commitments. Multi-year commitments to targeted areas within the University that may coincide with a students’ emerging academic, research, or extracurricular passions; or to priorities that align with existing family philanthropy. 
  • Planned giving. A gift that includes the University in the family’s estate planning.

Student with her family during Brown Family Weekend

 

In addition, some families involve students in their giving decisions and establish a meaningful tradition of shared family giving to Brown. Students may choose to join the Student Philanthropy Council, the Senior Class Gift Committee, or the Brown Annual Fund Young Leadership Council.

And families whose total annual support to the University exceeds $15,000 are eligible to join a special giving society: Brown Family Fellows. 

Your family’s gift—whatever the size—will make an immediate difference for your child and their classmates. Your support can be felt everywhere. It's in the books that feed their quest for knowledge. It's in the classes that transform how they think. And, it's in the experience they will cherish for a lifetime.

Brown wouldn't be where we are without the generosity and support of our families. Together, you've made our parent and family giving program one of the best in the country — and are a constant source of our community's strength and resilience.

 

“ When we welcome a new student to Brown, we are welcoming the family as well. Parents are deeply valued members of this community, and we encourage their active participation and involvement in the life of the University. ”

President Christina H. Paxson

Brown prepares its students to forge their own paths.
We invite you to journey alongside them.

For more information, contact:
Laura B. Smith ’06
Director of Parent and Family Giving
laura_beth_smith@brown.edu

Related information

Related stories