ARDF is a radio sports activity within the framework of the Amateur Radio service. It deals with the taking of radio bearings and finding transmitters, constructing direction-finding equipment, training amateurs in the rules of the sport, and organizing events in the USA and other IARU countries. ARDF brings radios into the great outdoors with maps and compasses, providing a uniquely enjoyable way to learn new radio skills.

Interest and participation in ARDF activities are growing, and the ARRL provides encouragement and support for ARDF activities across the United States. Events often take place at Amateur Radio conventions and hamfests as a magnet to Amateur Radio for youth and others. Championship competitions are held annually to help decide membership on the US team at the ARDF World Championships.

For information about ARDF activities in the USA, contact the ARRL ARDF Committee at ardf@arrl.org or visit www.arrl.org/ardf.

The ARRL Diamond Club is an annual giving program to support Amateur Radio above the cost of membership. Diamond Club donors receive special benefits and provide critical resources to support ARRL's programs and services for Amateur Radio.

The ARRL Education & Technology Fund provides financial support the ARRL education initiatives in wireless technology including placing stations in schools and training teachers at the ARRL Teachers Institute.

"Today, the ARRL Education & Technology Program has become a flourishing and highly respected program that has brought Amateur Radio and Wireless Technology to thousands of young people in hundreds of schools across the country. How? By giving teachers the knowledge, skills, and materials they need to give hands-on STEM experiences to their students... This extraordinary program is made possible entirely through members' contributions."   - Former ARRL President, Kay Craigie, N3KN

The Ham Aid Fund was created in 2005 in response to the need for equipment and resources to support the Amateur Radio response to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Ham Aid equipment is available on loan to Amateur Radio organizations during disaster response when communications equipment is unavailable.

With your support, the Ham Aid Fund will continue to donate radios and antennas to areas of need.

The Historic Preservation Fund provides resources for the acquisition, preservation, storage and display of equipment and other memorabilia vital to the understanding and promotion of Amateur Radio history and traditions.

Take a trip to the ARRL attic…a place where cabinets of rare documents, boxes of precious photographs and radio artifacts have been gathered over the years.  While they can evoke memories and teach us details of our Amateur Radio history, and while we would like to ensure that we will be able to share them with future generations of radio amateurs, the natural effects of aging are putting them at risk.  

At ARRL there are main pieces of a 1909 radio station that capture the technology of a bygone era.  There are more than 100 file cabinets of documents, including a nearly complete set of logbooks from W1AW, that chronicle ARRL and Amateur Radio history but that are fragile and require special handling.  There are boxes of photographs and negatives reflecting every aspect of ARRL history that need better protection before they are lost forever.

The ARRL recognizes its important role as steward of this historically and scientifically valuable collection.  With generous financial support from the YASME Foundation, ARRL is taking important steps to catalog each document and photograph and scan the most fragile photographs and negatives. The YASME Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation organized to conduct scientific and educational projects related to Amateur Radio, and whose generous contributions to the ARRL Historic Preservation Fund continue the spirit of Jim Maxwell, W6CF, who spearheaded efforts to preserve Amateur Radio history.   

ARRL needs your contribution to continue the preservation process and ensure that no piece of Amateur Radio’s magical and storied history is lost. Join us to keep the ARRL Historic Preservation process moving forward.

Logbook of the World (LoTW) is an online service that enables you to:

• electronically submit contacts (QSOs) for confirmation
• view your submitted QSOs and resulting confirmations online
• view your DXCC, VUCC, WAS, WAS and WPX award progress online
• electronically submit confirmations for credit toward DXCC, VUCC, WAS, WAZ and WPX awards

Because ARRL wants there to be no barriers to stations uploading their QSOs, LoTW is available to any amateur radio operator at no cost to the user.  However, there are costs incurred by ARRL for Logbook operations run by ARRL staff members, including costs for programmers, equipment, web access, and user help and support.

Your donation to Logbook of The World will support maintenance of the current database and expansion of the system in the future.

The Second Century Campaign was created to coincide with ARRL’s Centennial year in 2014.  ARRL members, volunteers, and staff celebrated ARRL’s 100-year anniversary of serving Amateur Radio enthusiasts through six regional events, the National Centennial Convention, and other special events throughout the year.

The Second Century Campaign committee was comprised of 13 dedicated ARRL volunteers and staff, who joined forces with the ambitious goal of building the ARRL Endowment and securing significant financial resources to maintain ARRL’s commitment to Amateur Radio well into the League’s second century and beyond. 

The Second Century Campaign Committee was led by David W. Brandenburg, K5RQ, joined by former Chief Development Officer, Mary Hobart, K1MMH, former ARRL Board President, Kay Craigie, N3KN, Ken Byers, K4TEA, Bob Allphin, K4UEE, Mike Valentine, W8MM, L. Dennis Shapiro, W1UF, ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, Frank Donovan, W3LPL, Rick Roderick, K5UR, Steve West, W7SMW, Glenn Johnson, WØGJ, and ARRL Chief Financial Officer Barry Shelley, N1VXY.       

At a special reception on July 16, 2014, the eve of the National Centennial Convention in Hartford, Connecticut, Committee members and campaign supporters came together to celebrate the success of the Campaign.  Campaign Chair David Brandenburg, K4RQ, proudly reported that more than $7.6 million dollars in cash donations, pledge commitments and planned gifts were raised through the Committee's efforts and the generosity of ARRL members.  The Second Century Terrace, recognizing the Committee and Major Donors, was unveiled as a permanent acknowledgment to these visionary supporters.   

The Second Century Campaign is still accepting gifts to support this important mission.  For more information, please contact the Development Office at (860-594-0291).

 The ARRL Spectrum Defense Fund supports ARRL advocacy efforts in official Washington and worldwide to protect and enhance Amateur Radio frequencies.

Thanks to the support of ARRL members, ARRL has maintained constant vigilance and taken decisive action throughout the years, including:

Defeating the threat that Little Leo satellites posed to the 2-meter and 70-cm bands.

Removing high-powered international broadcasting stations from the heart of the 40-meter band - doubling the size of the worldwide band and making it more useful than it had been in 70 years.

Working with out colleagues in the International Amateur Radio Union to gain global allocations at 135 kHz and 472 kHz (domestic implementation is the next step)

Battling the Broadband Over PowerLine (BPL) interference for six years including successfully challenging the FCC in court on its prejudice that tainted the rulemaking process.

Defending microwave allocations against the onslaught of commercial wireless broadband.

Seeking an international allocation at 60 meters (5mHz).

Your contribution to the Spectrum Defense Fund ensures that ARRL will have the resources to meet future challenges when they appear and to protect your operating privileges.

To establish a pledge, contact development@arrl.org

The Legislative Issues Advocacy Fund supports the mission of educating Congressional representatives, and their respective staffs, regarding issues that affect the Amateur Radio Service and ARRL's advocacy goals.

ARRL has created the Legislative Issues Advocacy Fund for the express purpose of educating Congressional representatives, and their respective staffs regarding issues that affect the Amateur Radio Service and ARRL's advocacy goals.

There is an urgent need to raise monies to offset the substantial cost of sending our voices to Washington for legislative advocacy, and we need to continue these expenditures into the future to achieve our goals, including and beyond the current CC&R legislative effort as there are other issues on the horizon that will require a continuing presence on Capitol Hill.  We must establish a brand for Amateur Radio now so that we no longer have to be reactive when it comes to the relationship between the Federal government and Amateur Radio.

This is not a Political Action Committee (PAC).  The purpose of the fund is to educate and inform members of Congress of the importance of legislation that impacts the League and its members, and furthers the mission of ARRL.  

Besides our current efforts regarding CC&Rs, there will be other issues in the near future that will require legislative action, including spectrum allocation (especially broadband allocation conflicts); a revised Communications Act; the adequacy and efficiency of FCC enforcement issues; use of Amateur Radio volunteers; increased privatization of Amateur Radio admission; FCC oversight issues; RFI concerns; and many other issues necessitating Congressional assistance.

All of these areas require the continuing education of our Congressional representatives as to the mission of the ARRL and to the membership we represent as the national association of Amateur Radio.  It is not enough to conduct our advocacy efforts at the ITU, CITEL, the FCC and NTIA.  Nor is it enough to have a Spectrum Defense Fund.  We must also be recognized as advocates for Amateur Radio in Congress at the effective level at which we are working right now.

It needs to be understood that there are no guarantees.  However, if we don't take steps to ensure our future, there may be no future. 

We have seen, poignantly and directly, the results of maintaining too low a profile in Congress.  We now find ourselves in a position of either educating or re-educating Congressional Representatives and their respective staffs on the purpose and benefit to the public of a viable Amateur Radio service.  Typically there are, in round numbers, between 700 and 1,700 hams in a Congressional district.  These numbers are - we know - meaningful to Congresspersons.  We need to keep our efforts up at a level that produces results.

The W1AW Endowment Fund provides support for day-to-day operations, maintenance and capital needs of W1AW, the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station.

This simple and graceful building represents far more history and accomplishment than most passersby would imagine. Cross the threshold and you enter another world, one in which the magic of radio communication has spanned several generations. You can feel the spirit of Hiram Percy Maxim, whose "Old Betsy" rotary spark gap transmitter graces the vestibule. You can almost see Hiram Percy Maxim sitting at his desk in the era of Amateur Radio when sparks flew and each contact was a rare event. And his spirit of adventure and experimentation - and above all, service - is still alive at W1AW, the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial station.

In recent years, since we launched the W1AW Endowment Fund, the station has been modernized without sacrificing its character and history.  Income from the W1AW Endowment Fund has contributed to the replacement of aging equipment and antennas. New band pass filters, computers and cables have been installed. A vintage AM station sits gracefully alongside D-Star and other advanced digital technologies. A matrix of antenna connections and a wall of transceivers and amplifiers for every band bring daily bulletins and Morse code practice to every corner of the country and the world. The guest operating suites showcase the most up-to-date equipment. 

As an intrepid tinkerer and inventor, Hiram Percy Maxim would be pleased with how far Amateur Radio has progressed, and proud of the station that bears his name.  Now we need you to help us continue the progress to make W1AW a truly 21st Century operation.   

If you are in a position to do even more, you may consider supporting the W1AW Endowment with a gift of securities.