This story originally appeared in the March 2025 Checkpoints magazine.

Donor support has always been an important part of the U.S. Air Force Academy’s history. Since its founding in 2007, the Air Force Academy Foundation has focused on cultivating increasing support from donors to help define the future of the Academy, its cadets and its programs – and making sure those gifts are carefully stewarded.

The Defining Our Future campaign, the largest such effort to date, helped focus fundraising efforts on major Academy priorities. Donors responded in record numbers, contributing more than $330 million to capital and programmatic projects as well as graduate programs.

Building on those successes, the Association of Graduates and Air Force Academy Foundation will continue to work with donors and classes to support priority programs and cadet experiences, furthering excellence in all areas of the Academy.

“We’re always focused on supporting the Academy and building leaders of character. But we also are very focused on building an organization and sustaining it in the interim period so we can exceed the previous campaign when the time comes,” says Alex Gilbert ’87, chair of the Air Force Academy Foundation board of directors. “That takes planning. We want to develop the team, and then we want to have the policies and procedures for stewardship in place so that we can have a successful campaign next time as well.”

In 2025 and beyond, donor support will continue to focus on preparing cadets for a technologically advanced and dynamic future and for maintaining peace, defending the nation and winning conflicts. Part of that focus will include fostering critical thinking among the Cadet Wing through extra support of academic departments, academic assistance and research centers. The Association and Foundation will also place an added emphasis on creating sustaining support for graduate services, heritage projects and meaningful engagement opportunities.

“There are three areas where we see graduates and the Academy can benefit from each other: membership, volunteering and philanthropy,” says Kelly Banet, executive vice president for development at the Association and Foundation. “We want people to engage. They can become members and be active within the Association of Graduates. They can volunteer locally within chapters or as admissions liaisons. And they can make a philanthropic gift in support of their alma mater.”

On the philanthropic front, the Association and Foundation will support the priorities of Superintendent Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind ’91, who assumed command in August 2024. Gen. Bauernfeind has identified overarching priorities related to developing warfighters to win, leaders of character and quality and critical thinkers to adapt.

Additionally, fundraisers will seek foundational support for academic programs and the Dean of Faculty mission element, such as through endowed faculty funds and chairs. Plus, the Association and Foundation will seek long-term support for graduate services.

The Academy can expand the breadth and depth of its academic program with the expertise and experience of distinguished faculty who are named endowed chairs. These donor-funded positions attract national leaders and preeminent scholars to devote their time and talent teaching and mentoring cadets and faculty. They also may focus on research projects of national security importance, providing meaningful experience to cadets and other faculty members.

Donors can also support the Academy’s academic mission through endowed funds that establish academic centers, scholar-in-residence or visiting lecturer positions, and fellowship opportunities. Each of these options helps strengthen scholarship within specific disciplines, especially emerging fields that may not be addressed in the current curriculum.

The Association and Foundation offers many programs to serve graduates throughout their lives. Philanthropy can help those programs thrive long into the future. For example, donors can support the quarterly award-winning Checkpoints magazine with endowments or other gifts focused on travel for writers to meet graduates where they make their impact or other recurring operational costs.

Similarly, a recently expanded next-of-kin program is designed to grow along with the burgeoning graduate community. The program assists families of deceased graduates with navigating funeral details if the burial will happen at the Air Force Academy Cemetery. Other services include the printing of Here’s A Toast, a new memorial publication remembering graduates who have died in the past year, and additional support during next-of-kin ceremonies at the Academy. Although these programs are funded through the operating budget, endowments will help sustain and grow them for decades and generations to come.

Because the Association and Foundation exists to support the Academy, additional fundraising priorities may be added as they are identified by Academy leaders.