This overview of the state of endowment giving comes at a time of urgent need in the nonprofit sector. With market returns uncertain, and spending restraint difficult, the moderate but measurable increase in donations in the previous year invites institutions to consider elevating fund-raising to a more strategic position within the organization.…

Successful investing for long-term funds requires a strategic plan. This is true despite--indeed, because of--the fact that the future is unknowable. The plan must be specific, embodying in concrete terms the best thinking of the board of trustees about the investment pool, its goals and purposes; but it also needs to be sufficiently flexible to…

A study found that the past experience of university researchers (n=716) with a given funding source strongly influenced their preference for seeking further collaboration with that source. This was found to be the case regardless of their level of dependency on external research funding. (MSE)

Offers basic principles for English department fundraising: know why people should give money to the department; identify several colleagues who can help represent the department to potential givers; involve alumni; work on getting grants while pursuing private gifts from donors; create a print representation of the department; and cultivate a…

In response to increasing costs and growing reliance on external funding for college faculty research, a plan for promoting faculty success in gaining financial support for research is proposed. The plan is based on information in the literature concerning prerequisites for success in getting external support. (Author/MSE)

Researchers at small universities encounter problems hampering their research productivity. Canada's Mount Saint Vincent University increased its faculty's research output by two means: the administration showed its support by devoting resources to research, and the faculty learned to compete successfully for grants. (Author/MSE)

The effective use of volunteers, in particular parents and college faculty, is advocated. Adrian College's Parents Council involves parents in securing internships, contacting prospective students, giving feedback on issues as well as fund raising. A faculty-development officer partnership is suggested in which professors help attract grant funds.…

Those responsible for preparing proposals need to adopt principles of successful cultivation before beginning to write. Prewriting research and cultivation, source collectors and selectors, getting the foundation to invite an application, internal cultivation (knowledge of institution's goals, information sources, on-campus networks) and personal…

College and university fund raisers are offered three recommendations for targeting the best donors: (1) make effective use of indexes and directories, electronic or manual, to match foundation and college interests; (2) narrow the pool to true prospects; and (3) make preproposal contact geared to the foundation's style or organization. (MSE)

Guidelines are offered for making the most of either a foundation visit to a college campus in search of funding or a fund-raising visit to a foundation. Detailed planning, presenting the strengths of the college, and conducting an effective meeting are discussed. (MSE)

The "needs basis" for obtaining funding for research and training grants from foundations is examined, and a model for developing research and training grants is proposed. The most important task is proving that there is an unmet need for the grant. The grant proposal should describe the unmet need, what is being done about the problem, and…

Since hundreds of requests for grants appear at the offices of American foundations, a proposal that wastes an opportunity by making a poor case cannot be tolerated. Suggestions are given for beginning the grant-writing, drafting the proposal, and avoiding certain problem approaches. (Author/MSE)

Books, journal articles, newspapers and magazines, reports, and other references on fund-raising from foundations are listed and annotated. They include reports about individual foundations and groups as well as more general grantsmanship materials and studies of private giving trends. (MSE)

A Washington-based fund-seeker is seen as necessary for helping institutions get a share of the billions in federal funds spent yearly in education. Responsibilities of a Washington representative are discussed, including knowing an institution's strong areas, knowing the agencies with jurisdiction over those areas, and connecting the two. (MLW)

As the competition for grants has steadily intensified and available funds have begun to level off, the role of a grants office in the university has become increasingly important. (JN)