Education Commons^™

Retention Issues In Nonprofit University Foundations, Sarah Kay

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Turnover of major gift officers (MGOs) within university foundations has been a problem for foundations and their affiliated universities. Turnover of MGOs results in less fundraised dollars, fewer donor-fundraiser relationships, and higher incomings costs. Retention of MGOs is vital for foundations’ success and directly correlates to the overall prosperity of the respective university. The purpose of this descriptive, non-experimental study that utilized a cross-sectional survey design was to examine perceptions of currently employed MGOs, in the interest of determining what was important to them to remain employed at their nonprofit university foundation. Using a web-based survey, data showed MGOs need …

Preferred Methods Of Communication Of Millennial Alumni Of The University Of Arkansas’ Agricultural Education, Communications And Technology Department And The Impact Of Brand Community On Potential Philanthropy, Wells William Clark

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Higher education institutions depend upon alumni support (Gaier, 2005). Understanding how those institutions communicate with alumni about methods of financial giving is necessary in securing their support. The concept of brand community, an idea formed through social relationships amongst consumers of a common brand, regardless of location, who acknowledge their overlapping interests and share traditions and a sense of duty related to the brand (McAlexander et al., 2006; Muniz & O’Guinn, 2001), can contribute to desired behaviors such as donations and engagement in alumni groups. Exploration of this concept was conducted in relation to young alumni (those graduating from 2008-2018).The …

A Case Study Of One Small Christian College Overcoming Decline And Implementing An Institutional Turnaround, Richard H. Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Numerous studies and national data show a growing number of small, private, Christian colleges face extreme difficulties, which often result in decline, followed by closure or merging with larger, higher education institutions. Attempting to overcome the loss of student revenue from a declining enrollment, many small colleges raise tuition prices, spend endowment funds, and overextend themselves with high debt payments. Countering the increased tuition prices, these colleges often increase scholarships and financial aid, which reduces available funds for other institutional needs. Other challenging issues include meeting accreditation standards, raising money for operational and capital needs, and the general public losing …

An Exploratory Comparative Case Study Of Successful Fundraising Operations At Three Small, Private, Christian Universities, James Edgar Bender

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Literature suggests that the challenges currently facing higher education will continue, increasing the pressure on institutions to discover and cultivate new funding sources outside of the traditional avenues of tuition, room, board, and fees. Through an exploratory comparative case study research design, the characteristics of the fundraising operations of three small, private, faith-based institutions that have proven successful, as measured by their current U.S. News & World Report and Forbes financial ratings, were examined through individual interviews with six employees at each of these three institutions, including the president, vice president of development, senior development staff members and university trustees. …

Generational Giving In Public Higher Education, Christine Bernot

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Competition for donors and dollars between higher education and the non-profit sector has never been greater, with Americans giving nearly $450 billion in philanthropic support to charitable organizations in 2019 (IUPUI, 2020). Alumni of higher education institutions are a natural constituency group with a history of giving back to support student needs and programs.

New research in fundraising for higher education analyzing generational giving behaviors of alumni graduate donors could help universities better understand their giving results and support the innovation of new fundraising strategies and best practices. This quantitative research study used historical giving data to examine the …

Advancing Higher Education: Strategic Leadership For Chief Advancement Officers, Matthew Ohs

Leadership Education Capstones

This research study focuses on the role of strategic leadership within effective advancement organizations. Given the fundraising responsibility of university advancement leaders, there is a need to research the leadership strategies which lead to successful fundraising. The purpose of this study is to determine effective leadership strategies for Chief Advancement Officers (CAOs) at four-year, public universities. Strategic Leadership Theory suggests connections between the university’s executive leadership and institutional success (Boal & Hooijberg, 2001; Finkelstein & Hambrick, 1996). The research study design is qualitative to explore the experiences of individuals regarding the connections between leadership strategies and fundraising performance in university …

Factors And Characteristics Of Alumni Role Identity: Implications For Practice In Higher Education Fundraising And Alumni Relations, Jay Le Roux Dillon

Doctoral Dissertations

Now more than ever, colleges and universities are relying on funds raised from alumni to support their operations. At the same time, the percentage of alumni donors is in decline and new research suggests that higher education fundraising strategies are overly reliant on alumni behaviors and demographics as predictors of giving. A 2011 study by McDearmon addressed this issue by establishing a psychometric measure of a graduate’s self-identification with his or her role as an alumnus/a, dubbed “alumni role identity.” Based in role identity theory (Stryker 1968, 1980; Callero, 1985), McDearmon’s research demonstrated that alumni role identity was associated positively …

Higher Education Administrators' Perspective On Service Learning, Briana Cicero-Johns

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

An economic downturn beginning in late 2007 has led to decreased funding and greater competition to recruit and retain students in higher education. Service-learning, while demonstrated to be an effective recruiting and retention strategy, could fall victim to budgetary constraints – thus undermining institutions’ historical commitment to service and engagement – unless administrators are convinced of its value. This study examined administrators’ perspectives on the perceived financial benefits, if any, that accrue to the institution from the implementation of service-learning courses and programs, and whether service-learning requirements are perceived to contribute to student learning, recruitment, retention, and fundraising.

The study …

The Role Of Trustees In A Capital Campaign At A Public Research University, Marcia Lynn Overby

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The changing financial environment of public universities includes competing priorities for state funding. In today's economy, state appropriations for higher education do not always keep pace with institutional need. During periods of declining state revenue, universities endure budget cuts reducing state funding. When tuition dollars cannot be increased further and state appropriations are decreased or flat, public university administrators rely on fundraising to meet their mission, goals, and vision for their institutions. The fundraising program believed to produce the greatest results is a capital campaign. Large and ambitious capital campaigns can help institutions of higher education respond to decreases in …

Development Of University Related Foundations In China, Li Guo

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The major purpose of the study was to identify significant organizational changes that have taken place in foundations of national Chinese public universities from 1999 to 2012. The study also attempted to explore major forces behind these changes. A secondary purpose was to seek for ideas on promoting higher education philanthropy in China by explore successful experiences in other countries.

To achieve the goals, this study: (a) started by identifying challenges on financing higher education in China as well as pointing out that the Chinese government and higher education institutions have begun to generate diversifying revenue sources including recently adopted …

An Analysis Of The Variables Associated With Alumni Giving And Employee Giving To A Mid-Sized Southeastern University, Christine Hawk Loveday

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a relationship among selected demographic variables and donor or nondonor status of alumni and employees at the participating university. The variables involving alumni were gender, highest degree earned, and college of major study. The variables regarding employees were gender and position. The study was conducted using archived alumni data from the Alumni Association’s database program and the archived employee data from the Office of Human Resources’ database program. The population for this study consisted of the 76,728 alumni and the 2,279 full-time employees of a mid-sized southeastern university during …

An Analysis Of Florida Public Community College Foundations' Performance Measures From 2002-2004, Karen Sanders

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this research was to examine the performance of Florida public community college foundations from 2002-2004 using performance ratios. The findings from this study may assist community college foundation leaders to better understand the performance of their own organizations, compare this performance to other similar organizations, establish relative performance standards, and influence the strategic initiatives to improve an existing foundation. This study was designed to research the financial performance measurement ratios for the 28 public community college foundations in Florida. Ex post facto data that were publicly available were utilized to acquire the information needed for the statistical …