Genevieve Shaker
Permanent URI for this collection
Contributing to Fundraising Practice through Multi-Dimensional Research
Professor Genevieve Shaker's research focus has been on developing and disseminating new research about fundraising and about the fundraising profession. She has conducted several studies, including two about fundraiser job tenure and turnover that have generated knowledge about fundraisers themselves. This work is in alignment with growing attention in the nonprofit scholarly community to the role that fundraisers play in the giving process. Most often, scholars and the public alike focus on donors and the amount of money given to particular nonprofits without adequate consideration of the intermediary. Professor Shaker has a special interest in higher education giving and fundraising. She has conducted several studies in this setting, including a large longitudinal study of giving across 30 years and 400+ institutions, as well as an examination of the philanthropic relationships of fundraisers and major donors in university settings.
Professor Shaker's goal is to strategically share what she has learned through her research -- as well as the insights of other scholars. She does this in a variety of ways including presenting at conferences, teaching for The Fund Raising School, and writing books/articles. In 2021 and 2022, she published two books which translate research into practice. The first, Fundraising for Faculty and Academic Leaders (Palgrave), was co-authored with Aaron Conley and provides a research-based approach for leading advancement teams within the university. The second, Achieving Excellence in Fundraising (5th edition, Wiley), features 39 chapters written by Lilly Family School of Philanthropy faculty, alumni, and affiliates and is the most recent edition of the best selling fundraising textbook. Professor Shaker was the lead editor for the volume.
Browse
Browsing Genevieve Shaker by browse.metadata.dateaccessioned
Now showing 1 - 10 of 34
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Workplace Giving in Universities: A U.S. Case Study at Indiana University(Sage, 2016-02) Shaker, Genevieve G.; Borden, Victor M. H.; Kienker, Brittany L.; Department of Philanthropy, Lilly Family School of PhilanthropyThe phenomenon of workplace giving is underexamined in the scholarly literature; philanthropic gifts by employees to their nonprofit employers have received less attention within national and transnational contexts. This study considered the association between university staff propensity toward “internal workplace giving” and donor characteristics, drawing on literature about organizational commitment and identification as a beginning for advancing theoretical understanding of employee–employer relationships and giving at both the micro-level and meso-level. The sample of 17,038 employees covered 3 years at Indiana University, an American, public, multicampus institution. Despite its specific national and cultural context, the study raises relevant issues about workplace giving. Relational and personal characteristics were found to be significant predictors for determining who donates; using these characteristics to predict giving levels, however, was less successful. The study anticipates a growing need for related research and provides direction for further methodological and theoretical approaches.Item What Works at Work? Toward an Integrative Model Examining Workplace Campaign Strategies(Wiley, 2017) Shaker, Genevieve G.; Christensen, Robert K.; Bergdoll, Jonathan; Lilly Family School of PhilanthropyMany US employees are regularly asked to give charitable donations through work. The techniques used to solicit workplace donations vary. Drawing on a nationally representative survey, the study used a sample of donor responses to examine the effectiveness of several widely used campaign strategies: donor choice, company matching, public recognition, and solicitation support. The theoretical framework built on workplace research by Barman (2007) and established charitable giving mechanisms (Bekkers and Wiepking 2011a, 2011b). The research question was, “Do workplace campaign strategies lead employees to participate and to make (larger) donations in the workplace?” The positive outcomes of the strategies, aside from donor choice, were limited, suggesting that tried‐and‐true workplace fundraising strategies warrant additional scrutiny. The findings are meaningful to campaign managers seeking to identify approaches that generate workplace giving. For researchers, the results confirm growing attention to the importance of purpose‐based giving in comparison with community‐based giving.Item Understanding Higher Education Fundraisers in the United States(Wiley, 2017) Shaker, Genevieve G.; Nathan, Sarah K.; Lilly Family School of PhilanthropySince their earliest days, the U.S. higher education institutions have relied on philanthropic support to achieve their missions. What began as incidental is now a highly organized process of fundraising that accounts for tens of billions of dollars annually. As institutions' desire for private support grows, so too does the demand for successful fundraising professionals. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative analysis, this survey‐based study (n = 508) of U.S. higher education fundraising personnel provides new knowledge and grounds fundraisers' position in historical and contemporary literature about fundraisers and professionalism. The findings highlight notable generational, income, and gender differences within the higher education sector and between higher education and the greater profession. The analysis shows an established knowledge‐base and set of learnable skills for higher education fundraisers—which are best applied when combined with particular personal attributes. Although the latter are critically important, without full and fair attention to the former, the occupation is unlikely to garner full professional status. This study highlights, the path forward highlights the complexity of contemporary fundraising, is a reminder that fundraising is relationship‐ and information‐driven, and indicates that select, strategic efforts can further professionalize the field. In particular, fundraisers in the education sector may have special opportunities to advance the professionalization of their occupation.Item I give at the office: A review of workplace giving research, theory, and practice(Wiley, 2019-02) Shaker, Genevieve G.; Christensen, Robert K.; Lilly Family School of PhilanthropyWorkplace giving is a widely used philanthropic tool. Although it may have great unmet potential, it is also facing a number of challenges, including competition from informal crowdfunding campaigns. In the face of such challenges, we take stock of the extant research to better understand the value and future of workplace giving, emphasizing employee actions and preferences in our review. Workplace giving studies can also augment knowledge about contextual giving or bounded settings for exploring basic philanthropic questions (e.g., donor control or gift elasticity). We use a three‐part conceptual framework to synthesize and discuss research on individual workplace giving in the context of broader giving behaviors. We address what researchers know, do not know, and need to know on the topic of workplace giving.Item Breaking the isolation: fundraisers, informal support groups, and professional growth(2018-11) Shaker, Genevieve G.; Nathan, Sarah K.; Janin, Pat D.; O'Connor, Heather A.Although understanding of the fundraising profession is growing, less is known about fundraisers working in smaller nonprofits, with limited access to professional associations. In this grounded theory study, we conducted focus groups with fundraisers who created an informal professional association. Literature has indeed shown that such associations can provide self-regulation, knowledge diffusion, and professional identity–similar to that offered by larger, formal associations. Our objective was to explore why, when, and how fundraisers in small organizations form and use informal associations for professional growth and confidence. We created a model/theory describing one group’s process with implications for supporting the profession.Item Professional Identity and the Determinants of Fundraisers’ Charitable Behavior(Sage, 2020-08) Shaker, Genevieve G.; Rooney, Patrick; Bergdoll, Jonathan; Nathan, Sarah K.; Tempel, Gene; Lilly Family School of PhilanthropyThis survey-based study (n = 1,663) addressed charitable behaviors of fundraisers—key arbiters of others’ donations. Our research question was as follows: Are fundraisers’ charitable behaviors related to their professional identity? We found several anticipated differences in giving and volunteering behaviors (and their social determinants) in comparison with the general public and the influence of some fundraising-specific variables. Nearly all the fundraisers gave time and money and were more like one another than the public. On average, they gave more money and donated a higher salary share than the typical household. They volunteered at a higher rate and, excluding outliers, more hours than the average American. We contend that fundraiser charitable behavior and professional identity are interwoven. The professional norms regarding personal philanthropy may also be influenced through the self-selection of the inherently philanthropic into fundraising. Future research should examine formation of fundraiser professional identity and its outcomes more broadly.Item Analyzing Three Decades of Philanthropic Giving to U.S. Higher Education (1988–2018)(Indiana University, 2020) Shaker, Genevieve G.; Borden, Victor M. H.; Lilly Family School of PhilanthropyThis investigation explores trends in U.S. higher education philanthropy across 30 years, exploring giving by donor type, the purposes of the contributions, and institutional-type variation in philanthropy. We used a longitudinal national sample (1988–2018) of approximately 400 public and private institutions from the Voluntary Support of Education (VSE) survey. In the sample of mostly 4-year institutions, giving increased by an inflation-adjusted average of 3.6% annually and 175% overall, from $9.1 billion to $25.1 billion (2018 dollars). All donor types gave more dollars, gifts supported a broad range of purposes, and all institutional types benefited. Four notable trends include: an increase in the proportion of donations from organizations, and especially foundations, rather than individuals; an early shift in funding toward capital/endowment purposes but then back to current operations since 1998; designation of a larger proportion of funds for restricted, rather than unrestricted, purposes; and a higher proportion of dollars contributed to public, as compared to private institutions. Within sector trends reveal that increased giving to public institutions partly accounts for the rising proportions of both organizational donations and donations for current operations purposes. This study fills gaps in the scholarly literature about higher education philanthropy and provides information for institutional leaders to benchmark fundraising trends and prepare for the future.Item The Role of Philanthropic Studies in Equipping Students to Articulate their Personal and Vocational Purpose(Sagamore, 2020-10) Nathan, Sarah K.; Shaker, Genevieve G.; Danahey Janin, Pat; Lilly Family School of PhilanthropyPositioned within the larger discussion regarding the outcomes of a liberal arts education, this qualitative study examined Philanthropic Studies undergraduates’ articulation of purpose. Fifteen majors participated in this grounded theory study, providing insight into the student experience in this new, liberal arts discipline. Findings are expressed in a theoretical framework showing how most students’ articulation of purpose successfully evolved to include and integrate personal and vocational aims. Most of the Philanthropic Studies students held a strong, values-based orientation that underscored their experiences and perspective but was not enough to assure a confident vocational purpose on its own. The framework aligns and complements theories of student development and illuminates a number of personal and programmatic factors that facilitated or hampered the students’ progression. The study suggests that liberal arts-based curricula can do well with a holistic approach that attends closely not just to students’ academic achievements but also to their sense of personal purpose, career interests and vocational concerns, while using experiential learning strategies in generous measure.Item The Global Common Good and the Future of Academic Professionals(Higher Learning Research Communications, 2011-10-31) Shaker, Genevieve G.In this epilogue to the special issue of Higher Learning Research Communications dedicated to higher education, community engagement, and the public good, Shaker addresses the unifying concept presented across the issue: the common good. For Shaker, this special issue responds to UNESCO’s call for educational institutions and educators to rethink education in the contemporary era and focuses on how academic endeavors can, do, and should act in service to a global common good. The essay stresses the academic workforce needs to be reimagined concurrently with rethinking the systems of education that will ensure the world and society “to which we aspire.” Faculty in all their diversity are the central and essential ingredient to a successful global educational response to the challenges of an equitable and just global society will create and disseminate the knowledge society needs. To close, Shaker notes publications such as this bring these conversations into sharper focus to align and connect them so that a rethought approach to higher education might generate discernible results within the relatively short time available.Item Sequential Online Course Redesign: When “It Just Takes Time” Works No Longer(Wiley, 2014) Shaker, Genevieve G.; Nathan, Sarah K.; Dale, Elizabeth J.Despite the increase in formats of online education, evidence suggests that the academic achievement gap could widen without iterative adaptation. This comparative case study analyzes the implementation of an online undergraduate course delivered consecutively in hybrid and fully online formats. Student feedback and instructor reflection address adaptive processes for online learning and adjustments to enhance the second course following a sequential redesign. Results include students’ challenges with technology and workload, benefits of cross-course collaboration, instructor efforts to mediate challenges without sacrificing rigor, and advice for educational developers as they support online teaching through rapid adaptation by design.