Research on voluntary support of higher education suggests that donor behavior is best understood when examined by subgroups, that institutional size is important to most donor groups, and that institutional quality is significant to all groups except alumni. Long-standing ties are important to most groups. (Author/MSE)

Voluntary support of higher education in America is investigated through regression analysis of institutional characteristics at two points in time. The assumption of donor rationality together with explicit consideration of interorganizational relationships offers a coherent framework for the analysis of voluntary support by the major…