AAPOR's Endowment Fund was launched in 2000 to support projects, awards and activities in the field of public opinion research that are beyond the scope of the association's annual budget.

The fund is made up of three parts - - the General Endowment Fund, the Seymour Sudman Fund and the Heritage Interview Series Fund.

The General Endowment Fund is being built by investing the principal and using the interest in ways that strengthen AAPOR.  The first use of the interest from this fund has been the establishment of the annual Roper Award Fellow program, named for the late Burns "Bud" Roper who provided a substantial bequest in his will to the Endowment Fund.  Roper Award Fellows are people whose primary work responsibilities are related to survey research or public opinion and who have recently started their careers. They receive financial assistance to help them attend the annual conference and/or participate in conference short courses; most are first-time conference attendees.  Since 2005, there have been 16  Roper Award Fellows.

The Seymour Sudman Fund was created in 2002 in the memory of Seymour Sudman. It is
 used to fund the Student Paper Competition Award.

AAPOR launched the Heritage Interview Series Fund in 2002 to systematically interview those who have contributed significantly to our profession.  This series aims to organize and preserve knowledge about the founding of the field of public opinion research and the innovations and new ideas that have had significant impact on our field.  More than 20
interviews have been conducted and the tapes are being digitized and will soon be made available to AAPOR members.

We encourage you to make a tax-deductible contribution to these worthwhile funds.

Have an idea for an interesting project that will help AAPOR? Send your ideas to
 Jennifer Rothgeb, Chair, Endowment Committee.

Download a contribution form.

Contribute online