Bruce Sekanick, FAIA, NCARB

Professional architectural foundations play a unique role in strengthening the profession. While professional associations advocate for architects, provide education, and support members in practice, foundations, such as the AIA Ohio Foundation, are often able to focus more directly on the future—supporting students, emerging professionals, research, scholarships, community programs, design education, and initiatives that advance public understanding of architecture.

Giving to an architectural foundation is more than a charitable contribution. It is an investment in the people, ideas, and opportunities that will shape the profession for years to come.

The impact of that investment is not limited to the size of the gift. Small, mid-sized, and large donors each contribute in different but equally important ways. Together, they create the financial strength and broad support the foundation needs to fulfill its mission.

Small Gifts Create Broad Participation

A small donation may seem modest when viewed by itself, but it becomes powerful when combined with the support of many others. Gifts of $25, $50, or $100 can help fund student awards, educational programs, scholarships, community outreach, and other mission-driven activities.

Small donors also demonstrate that the foundation is supported by the profession as a whole—not only by major firms or a limited number of benefactors. Broader support of members is not only the focus of the AIA Ohio Foundation, but also the Ohio Architects PAC. A foundation with hundreds of participating donors sends a strong message that architects believe in developing future professionals and strengthening their communities.

For the small donor, the benefit is the opportunity to participate meaningfully without making a major financial commitment. The gift becomes part of a collective effort and helps build a culture in which supporting the profession is viewed as a shared responsibility. We, the members of AIA Ohio, all benefit from even the smallest contributions.

From the foundation side, small gifts also often represent the beginning of a long-term relationship with the foundation. In fact, most larger givers often begin as small givers. A student, associate, young architect, retired member, or small-firm practitioner may begin with an annual contribution that grows over time as circumstances allow.

The value is not simply in the amount. It is in choosing to take part.

Mid-Sized Gifts Build Programs and Momentum

Mid-sized donors provide dependable support that allows a foundation to move beyond isolated activities and develop sustained programs.

These contributions can help expand scholarships, increase student award funding, support local component initiatives, strengthen mentoring programs, underwrite lectures or educational events, and provide resources for programs that might otherwise remain limited in scope.

For the donor, a mid-sized gift creates a clearer connection between the contribution and the work being accomplished. Donors may be able to see how their support helps fund a scholarship recipient, sponsor an educational program, assist a student chapter, or advance a community initiative.

Mid-sized donors also provide stability. When a foundation can count on consistent annual support, it can plan more confidently, respond to new opportunities, and maintain programs from year to year.

This level of giving can be especially meaningful for architecture firms. A firm contribution demonstrates a commitment to education, professional development, and the future workforce. It also provides an opportunity to involve employees in the foundation’s mission and show clients and communities that the firm is invested in more than its own projects.

Large Gifts Create Lasting and Transformational Impact

Large donors give foundations the ability to think beyond annual operations and pursue long-term goals.

Major contributions may establish endowed scholarships, named funds, special awards, research initiatives, community programs, or other lasting resources. They can help a foundation launch a new initiative, respond to an urgent need, or build financial reserves that protect the organization’s work during uncertain periods.

For the donor, a major gift can create a legacy. That is the reason that the AIA Ohio Foundation created the AIA Ohio Foundation Legacy Scholarships in 2026. These contributions may honor a family member, mentor, colleague, firm, or professional value that has shaped the donor’s career. It can connect a lifetime of achievement to opportunities for future generations.

Large donors may also work with foundation leadership to direct their giving toward areas of particular importance to them, provided those interests align with the foundation’s charitable mission. This creates a more personal connection between the donor’s values and the impact of the gift.

The greatest benefit, however, is the ability to create opportunities that might not otherwise exist. A major gift can change the path of a student, strengthen an architecture program, expand access to the profession, or establish a program that serves architects and communities for decades.

Benefits Shared by Every Donor

Regardless of the amount contributed, every donor enjoys important benefits.

First, donors help strengthen the pipeline into the profession. Scholarships, student programs, mentoring, and educational opportunities can reduce barriers and encourage talented individuals to pursue careers in architecture.

Second, donors support professional excellence. Foundations can recognize achievement, encourage research, reward design leadership, and provide opportunities for students and professionals to develop their abilities.

Third, giving strengthens communities. Architectural foundations may support a wide range of programs that help people better understand the value of thoughtful design.

Fourth, donors become part of a shared professional purpose. Giving connects architects, firms, educators, students, and supporters around the belief that the profession’s future deserves active investment.

Fifth, charitable giving can provide personal satisfaction and a meaningful way to express gratitude. Many architects have benefited from mentors, scholarships, professional relationships, and opportunities created by those who came before them. Supporting a foundation allows donors to extend those same opportunities to others.

In any situation, there is value in contributing to the AIA Ohio Foundation.

Giving Is an Investment, Not a Transaction

The greatest reward of giving to the AIA Ohio Foundation is not a personal benefit, recognition level, or donor privilege. It is in knowing that the contribution helps create something larger than any individual donor.

Every gift supports the idea that the profession is responsible not only for the work being done today, but also for the people who will carry that work forward tomorrow.

Small gifts create participation. Mid-sized gifts sustain programs. Large gifts create lasting opportunities. Together, they provide the foundation upon which the future of architecture can be built.

Every donor matters. Every gift has value. And every contribution helps strengthen the profession for the next generation.