Institutional Advancement

Welcome to Institutional Advancement

Greetings,

Welcome to a New Era in Clark Atlanta University's Institutional Advancement!

We're thrilled to embark on this journey, collaborating with our cherished alumni chapters, corporate partners, and global community. Our mission: to elevate CAU to new heights.

At the heart of it all is our Panther Pride—a shared bond that grows stronger with every student's success. Together, we're enhancing academic excellence, improving facilities, offering scholarships, and boosting academic programs.

Under President George T. French, Jr.'s guidance, we're committed to engaging our diverse community like never before. We need your active participation to realize our sustainability goals!

Institutional Advancement is spearheading fundraising efforts to secure CAU's lasting success. Join us in ensuring your alma mater's bright future. Explore our campaigns and consider contributing today. Reach out to our Office of Institutional Advancement for assistance or more information.

The future of CAU depends on YOU. Show your Panther Pride—be part of the transformation!

Sincerely,
Richard L. Lucas, Jr., Ph.D.
Vice President and Chief Advancement Officer
Office of Institutional Advancement
Clark Atlanta University

Contact Office of Institutional Advancement

Phone Number: 404-880-6040
Email Address: rlucas@cau.edu
205 Harkness Hall
223 James P. Brawley Dr., S.W., Atlanta, GA 30314

Invest in CAU

The Institutional Advancement team of dedicated development officers serves as the driving force behind fundraising endeavors at Clark Atlanta University.

With unwavering commitment and a passion for advancing our institution, we tirelessly work to connect with alumni, friends, and partners who share our vision for CAU’s future.

Through strategic initiatives and personalized engagement, we aim to secure the necessary resources that will empower our university to thrive and continue its legacy of excellence in education.

Together, we forge partnerships and build bridges, ensuring that CAU remains a beacon of opportunity, innovation, and achievement for generations to come.

  • Scholarship Gifts– Allow the University the ability to award scholarships immediately to students who meet the minimum criteria of named scholarship. 
  • Endowed Gifts – Gifts invested to produce ongoing income for a designated purpose.  Because endowed funds are invested, they have a life-time presence on CAU’s campus and live in perpetuity.
  • Annual Fund– The mission of the Clark Atlanta University’s Annual Fund is to build alumni participation through yearly gifts from alumni, friends, parents and students by educating them on the needs of the University and the value of their involvement in the life of the University.
  • Class Reunion Giving–– Class reunion giving is a wonderful opportunity for alumni to show their class pride and support an institution that has done so much for you. Your donations will go towards the class gift that represents each class in reunion, and presented to the University during Class Reunion Weekend in May.
  • Faculty Staff Giving Campaign– As Clark Atlanta University faculty and staff, you invest your time and talent in the university and our students every day. When you extend your contributions to include philanthropy, you express your belief in CAU’s mission and actively support our long-standing culture of excellence.  
  • Corporate and Foundation Giving– The Office of Corporate & Foundation Relations is dedicated to fostering and strengthening relationships between corporations and foundations and the Clark Atlanta University community. We represent the broad priorities of the university, its colleges and programs, and promote opportunities to engage and support CAU’s academic, research and public outreach initiatives.
  • Planned Giving – The Office of Institutional Advancement endeavors to maximize donor’s contribution and tax-saving potential. CAU uses several ways to leverage your gift into a larger one through the use of assets such as stocks and securities, life insurance, retirement accounts, a personal will, and property such as artwork and rare books as gift options. Planned Giving is a tool in which you can secure increased tax benefits and/or supplementary income. 
  • Matching Gifts – Corporate matching gifts are a great way for Clark Atlanta University alumni, parents, and friends to maximize personal contributions to the University and increase the impact of their gift. By taking advantage of a company’s matching gift benefit, you may be able to double or even triple the amount of a contribution.

The CAU Alumni Relations Department is dedicated to fostering, nurturing, and fortifying connections with our esteemed alumni community. Their primary focus is to inspire alumni support and contributions to the university. Additionally, we take charge of meticulously documenting and preserving alumni records, collaborating closely with the national alumni association and its affiliates, and overseeing all matters related to alumni communications, events, and volunteer engagement.

Alumni Relations and Engagement

Advancement Services provides comprehensive services and stewardship to support fundraising efforts of the Office of Institutional Advancement. The department focuses on the following:

  • Gifts & Records Management: Alumni & Donor Records processes private donations to the university. The team is responsible for recording and maintaining donor information, providing biographical and gift processing, and ensuring that all contributions are receipted in a timely manner.
  • Donor Services: Donor Services is a central resource that fosters a collaborative relationship with our campus partners. The team offers a range of services to engage, cultivate and steward priority constituents—alumni, parents and friends.
  • Information Services: Information Services provides the backbone and infrastructure for Institutional Advancement by overseeing business process analysis and implementation. 
  • Prospect Development, Research & Strategy: Prospect Development, Research & Strategy provides information that helps university representatives establish, build, maintain and strengthen the relationships that lead to private gifts. The team conducts public information research on people, companies and foundations, seeking to identify new potential donors; to find indicators of prospects’ interests, willingness and capacity to give; and to provide information for development personnel that can be strategically applied throughout the development cycle.

Marketing and Communications play a pivotal role in upholding the cohesive editorial and graphic identity across all official publications and marketing materials of Clark Atlanta University.

With unwavering dedication to quality and consistency, our team ensures that each communication piece resonates with the university’s values and messaging.

Through meticulous attention to detail and creative design, we strive to convey the essence of CAU’s excellence and innovation, providing our community with engaging and impactful content that reflects the university’s unwavering commitment to academic distinction and growth.

The CAU Governmental Affairs team strategically positions and aligns CAU within the federal, state, and local levels of government, as well as the non-profit sector, to achieve our objectives effectively in order to:

  • Advance fiscal sustainability
  • Build strong programs through strategic partnerships
  • Promote academic excellence for our scholars
  • Position through political & community awareness
  • Establish a think tank of thought leaders on ideas of public service