| Description |
This research sought to determine whether measures of deans' perceived fundraising self-efficacy and fundraising knowledge/behavior were predictive of the number of new major donors and amount of funds raised by their colleges over a 1-year period. The sample came from a national pool of academic deans at public Doctoral Institutions, Highest Research Activity (N=81), as categorized by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education (Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, n.d.). The study relied on a quantitative, multivariate design using an original instrument, the Deans and Development Survey (DDS). A number of independent variables were controlled as the predictive qualities of items on deans' fundraising self-efficacy and fundraising knowledge/behavior were assessed. The controlled variables fall into the following categories: deans' demographics, college characteristics, and fundraising contexts. An instrument known as the Leadership Efficacy Questionnaire was also included in the survey and controlled for as well. On the study's major hypotheses-that deans' fundraising self-efficacy and knowledge/behaviors would be predictive of outcomes-results were not significant. I explain this outcome as a possible problem of the study's focus on deans as the unit of analysis, as opposed to studying deans as part of a fundraising team, alongside their development officers. Other study results were significant. Some of deans' iv demographics, college characteristics, and fundraising contexts were predictive, particularly college type and number of fundraising staff. Significant outcomes highlight important issues for higher education institutions to consider in relation to their fundraising programs, including the finding that colleges with six or more fundraising staff members were shown to have many more new major donors and considerably higher fundraising totals than colleges with less than 6 staff members. The study also provided a range of useful and previously unavailable data on the fundraising characteristics of academic deans and the noteworthy institutions in the sample. Future research that examines deans' efforts in partnership with their fundraising staff could be valuable, as teamwork is the norm in development practice and may better predict college-based fundraising outcomes. I conclude the study with a personal statement, based on broad study implications, that summarizes other major takeaways and considerations regarding the purpose of fundraising in higher education. |
