Browsing by Subject "higher education philanthropy"

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    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 Philanthropy
    This 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.
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    How donors give to higher education: Research report
    (TIAA Institute, 2020-03) Shaker, Genevieve G.; Borden, Victor M. H.
    This investigation of U.S. higher education philanthropy examines 30-year trends in higher education philanthropy, specifically exploring the questions: How have the purposes that donors support changed over time? How and for what purposes do different groups of donors give across institutions? We used a longitudinal national sample (1988-2018) of approximately 400 public and private institutions from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education's (CASE) Voluntary Support for Education survey (VSE). In the sample, constituted primarily of 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 during the study period. Donors showed an increasing desire to limit their gifts through restricted giving and supporting current operations rather than capital/endowment purposes. Research was the largest recipient of the restricted current operations dollars. The proportion of current operations dollars for student financial aid declined. All donor types gave more over time. However, organizational donors' contributions increased more as foundation donations surpassed alumni donations. Corporations’ share of the giving declined the most. Organizational donors ultimately gave more to public colleges and universities in comparison to individual donors who gave more to private institutions. Consequently, support for public institutions rose during the study and, by 2018, public institutions received more dollars than did private ones. Adapting to ongoing changes in donor behavior, like those discovered in this study, will require institutions to be increasingly tactical and data-driven. Public approval and higher education revenue models are changing substantially, and institutional leaders must attend to complex external forces while also maintaining mission-driven philanthropic strategies.