Your Gift

As a donor to the Campaign, you can make possible the next generation of exploration which will unravel the mysteries of the universe. Your investment can help build the technology that will give exceptional leaders and scientists the tools they need to revolutionize our understanding of the skies.

The Giant Magellan Telescope

We seek gifts of $25,000 or more. Gifts of $1.5 million to $5 million may be recognized by naming a position, such as the directorship or a research fellowship. Leadership gifts of $10 million to $20 million or more may be recognized by naming one of the research centers at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.

Join the Adventure: Our Donor Stories

Discovery comes from unexpected places, and remarkable scientists with great ideas need resources to allow them to follow where the data lead them. With Campaign support, we will develop exhibits, visitor programs and Web outreach, which create public awareness of the fast-changing world of astrophysics and our role in it.

The Clay Foundation: Alexander Graham Bell invested in the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in 1890. Bell's seed money paved the way for a long list of investors willing to push the limits of scientific inquiry. An endowment established by philanthropist Thomas G. Hodgkins funded the launch of the world's first liquid-propelled rocket by Robert H. Goddard in 1926. In contemporary times, Landon T. and Lavinia D. Clay created a fund to help upgrade the twin Magellan telescopes and to support post-doctoral fellows as they focus on deep astrophysical questions. "We know that science requires substantial financial resources. Clay fellows not only help define an important problem, they also have devised workable pathways to answer the deep questions posed by their research," says Landon Clay.