Feniosky Pena-Mora may be the epitome of the new college dean. No longer middle managers with an inward-facing focus on academics, deans such as Mr. Pena-Mora, who leads Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Science, are stepping off their campuses to fill the roles of college ambassador, chief visionary, and major fund raiser.…

Even in good times, philanthropy's road warriors spend much of their time traveling to clients' campuses to help plan megacampaigns or improve giving programs. But now, as the stock market stumbles and the country's financial system gets an extreme makeover, demand for their presence has gone up, as college administrators and trustees look for…

Strengthened by a healthy year-end finish in 2007, private giving to colleges and universities remained strong in the 2008 fiscal year, according to a report released last week by the Council for Aid to Education. The past few months have battered hopes that this trend will continue, at least in the next couple of years. Colleges brought in an…

After years of growth and predictions that fund raising for higher education would escape the brunt of the economic crash, the recession has started to affect colleges' efforts to raise money, according to a survey by "The Chronicle" and Moody's Investors Service. Predictions are that 2009 may be an even tougher year for fund raisers, with…

After several years of aggressive hiring, some college fund-raising operations are now cutting back as both revenue and investment income fall. The regrouping could slow growth plans on many campuses at a time when the need for private support has never been greater. Often the colleges cutting employees are laying off back-office staff members and…

The economy's collapse has caught up with the billion-dollar campaign. In the past 12 months, the amount of money raised by a dozen of the colleges engaged in higher education's biggest fund-raising campaigns fell 32 percent from the year before. The decline, which started before the worst of the recession, has forced colleges to postpone…

As a dental student 35 years ago, Leo E. Rouse and his Howard University classmates learned to fill cavities and cap teeth by crowding around one faculty member and angling for a clear view of the day's demonstration. Today students at Howard's College of Dentistry, where Dr. Rouse is now the dean, get an unobstructed view of dental procedures…

The psychology behind getting the big gift and making "the ask" for it was a major topic at Fund Raising Day in New York 2008, which drew representatives from across the nonprofit world, including charities, hospitals, colleges, and museums. Laura Fredricks, who was vice president for philanthropy at Pace University from 2002 until earlier this…

Connie Kravas, the vice president for university advancement at the University of Washington, has brought in 64 new fund raisers since 2002--close to doubling its staff--to help raise money for a $2-billion-plus campaign. Many college development offices have experienced similar rapid growth in recent years, with many adding fund raisers at a…

The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor is offering a development internship program that is designed to give students real-world experience working in development jobs and the chance to meet major donors and network with alumni. Its goals are lofty: to create a pipeline of young people for the development profession; diversify the fund-raising…

This article reports on a new and unusual tactic that Kent State University is trying to improve its status, retention rate, and fund raising--paying cash bonuses to faculty members if the university exceeds its goals in those areas. The bonuses are built into a contract, approved last month, that covers 864 full-time, tenure-track faculty members…

Last week, the biggest annual gathering of college fund raisers was held in New York as some of the rockiest business news of the year unfolded. The three-day event, organized by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, was bookended by the federal government's announcement that it would step in to bail out the beleaguered mortgage…