Frequently asked questions

All gifts, big and small, help Athabasca University. What is important is your support, not the size of your gift. When you give, you join proud alumni and friends of the university who share your commitment and enthusiasm for AU.

Even at $10 a month your donation pools with others to create exponential change. In the past 2 years, donor funds have been put towards emergency bursaries which provided critical relief to students throughout the pandemic.

Athabasca University is a registered non-profit organization; therefore, gifts to the university may be tax deductible. Our charitable registration number is 10673 5830 RR0001.

Any donation over $10 will be eligible for a charitable tax receipt.

Online donations will receive a tax receipt immediately.

Donations made by cheque or other methods will receive a tax receipt by mail.

Monthly donors will receive a tax receipt for the sum of the full year’s giving by (the end of) February of the following calendar year.

Please contact us and we will be pleased to re-issue your receipt.

Make cheques payable to Athabasca University. Please include a note in the cheque’s memo line or an accompanying letter to direct your donation to Student Awards and mail it to Finance, Athabasca University, 1 University Drive, Athabasca, AB T9S 3A3 Canada.

Securities and mutual fund and trust units traded on the major Canadian and U.S. stock exchanges may be donated by transferring ownership directly to the university. You do not need to sell the securities before donating them, offering significant tax advantages. You can instruct your broker to transfer securities electronically to the university's broker. A tax receipt will be issued for the closing value of the securities on the day they become the property of AU. They will be sold by AU, and you may direct the proceeds of the sale to a particular project. To discuss a donation of shares, please contact us.

Yes! We will work with you to develop a payment schedule according to your wishes. We send a payment reminder before your scheduled payment is due. If we do not hear from you within 60 days, we will send a follow-up reminder.

With a commitment of $1,000 a year for a minimum of three years, we can work with you to develop a new award according to your interests and student needs—and you will have the opportunity to propose the name for the award, a wonderful way to celebrate your gift, or honour a loved one. If you would like to explore this, come talk to us.

If you have a particular area of interest, we would be happy to work with you to direct your gift accordingly. Please contact us.

With a minimum donation of $25,000, you can create a student award which will be funded by the investment income from your gift, forever. Athabasca University’s endowment policy protects the real value of the endowment against inflation to ensure the value of the award will remain intact in future years.

Generally, endowments of $25,000 will provide enough income annually for an $800- $1,000 award, or approximately the cost of one course. The larger the principal investment, the greater the value of the award.

We love our donors and want to acknowledge your support in the manner that you most appreciate! While we don’t regularly publish donor names on a list, we would love to profile you in one of our newsletters. If you are interested in telling us why you donate to AU, please contact us.

If you prefer to remain anonymous, we honour and accommodate that.

Anonymous donors must provide personal information for tax-receipting purposes but will not be acknowledged publicly.

You can indicate your wish to remain anonymous on the online donation form or by contacting us.

Many companies encourage their employees to contribute to nonprofit organizations by offering a matching gift program through which the employer donates funds equal to the amount donated by the employee. This effectively doubles your gift. Check with your employer to see if it has a charitable gift-matching program.

If your company offers a matching gift, please fill out the company form and send it to:

Athabasca University
Finance (Development)
1 University Drive
Athabasca, AB
T9S 3A3

Please contact us and we would be happy to update your record.