Background/Context: Government support for higher education has decreased over the past few decades. In turn, institutions are seeking alternative sources of funding and increasing reliance on alumni giving. Although trust is important to social institutions and nonprofits, we know little about the role of trust in alumni engagement.…

Institutions of higher education are relying on philanthropy and fundraising at a greater level than ever before seen. This increased focus has led scholars to investigate various predictors regarding which alumni are likely to give and which are likely to give the most. To date, however, scholars have not yet examined the role of timing and when…

Scholars have long documented the intersection between social identity and experiences within higher education. However, we know very little about the role of social identity in shaping alumni engagement with their alma mater, specifically through philanthropic giving. Building upon social identity and social distance theories and the…

The purpose of this study is to understand how identity and experiences among marginalized students influence alumnx lifetime financial giving. Data originated from "The National LGBT Alumni Survey," with 2,290 participants representing all 50 U.S. states and Carnegie institution classifications. We use identity-based motivation…

Azerbaijan was part of the U.S.S.R. for 72 years until the demise of this communist experiment in 1991 (Hunter 1997). During the Soviet era, Azerbaijani higher education was completely tuition-free, along with a provision of a monthly allowance to 70 percent of university students across the U.S.S.R. (Chankseliani 2013). According to Iveta Silova,…

Using a constructivist case-study analysis, we explore philanthropy toward higher education among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) alumni, examining the role of advancement staff and alumni advocates in engaging LGBTQ alumni to promote individual and community uplift. Data come from focus groups with 37 advancement staff and…

Colleges and universities are increasingly relying on philanthropic contributions to allow them to continue to provide high-quality education. Christian higher education is no different. African Americans give a larger percentage of their disposable income to nonprofits than any other racial group; this giving is primarily directed to the Black…

This monograph examines the philanthropic contributions of individuals through the existing literature and proposes future philanthropic and fundraising research that can help fill the theoretical void in the literature, thereby improving future research and fundraising in higher education. It covers the major approaches, topics, and theories…

African Americans give a larger percentage of their disposable income to non-profits than any other racial group, including Whites. However, there is a lack of literature on Black giving to higher education. This lack of research is particularly acute in our current state of decreased funding to higher education. This case study of the United…

Colleges and university missions often espouse ideals such as creating an active and engaged citizen. The concept, principles and manifestation of citizenship can take many forms. One such form is that of prosocial behavior, or voluntary actions towards others. Philanthropy is one example of prosocial behavior. This study enhances our knowledge of…

Gallaudet University, originally chartered by the US Congress as the Columbia Institute for the Deaf and Dumb and Blind in 1864, recently began to solicit donations from their alumni through formal fund-raising campaigns. Using a combination of historical and qualitative analysis coupled with descriptive statistics from institutional data and the…