Rather than banking enormous gifts, Harvard University built its wealth by adhering to a coherent strategy that gradually became the common sense--the prevailing ideology--of how to build and maintain the wealth of private universities. President Charles W. Eliot formulated this "free money" strategy over the course of his administration from 1869…

When it comes to reforming American education, today's would-be reformers only get it half right. On the one hand, they correctly argue that statutes, rules, regulations, and contracts make it difficult for schools and school system leaders to drive improvement and lead. On the other hand, they wrongly overlook the fact that school officials have…

Concerns about the cost of higher education and student loan debt have resulted in increasing efforts by policymakers and university administrators to find alternative ways to support the financing of higher education for students. The authors present a case study of a student-led philanthropy campaign to generate funding for social work student…

A cornerstone of intentional stewardship is measuring outcomes--essentially keeping track of the changing behavior of donors. Evaluating stewardship outcomes may require a considerable amount of work in determining cause-and-effect relationships between stewardship actions and donor behaviors, but a few tests can be revelatory. For instance, it…

Winners of the Investing in Innovation (i3) competition scrambled to make a deadline to find private-sector matches for their multimillion-dollar federal awards, meeting the challenge through a mix of cash grants and donations of pricey equipment and services, and by rechanneling previous grants to new purposes. The 49 organizations selected to…

The current financial context constitutes a challenge to European Higher Education Institutions in the sense that they must look to increasing their budgets with new activities. This context has led governments and European universities to promote not only the traditional private funding sources (such as transfer of knowledge or tuition fees), but…

The spectacular growth and equally spectacular decline of the eighteenth-century charity school movement prompts this examination of the contribution made by the movement to nineteenth-century schooling--particularly superior or secondary schooling. Educational historians have argued that the movement was a failure. This paper argues that only in…

In 2007 the University of Colorado Boulder Alumni Association moved under the university's umbrella after the alumni members had spent 11 years under the CU Foundation. But there were two major catches. First, the chancellor wanted them to eliminate their membership dues, as he felt they competed with the annual fund. Second, he could only make up…

This article uses the case of Michigan State College (MSC) to reconsider understanding of reform in the general education movement. Using the lens of MSC, the author argues that reform in the general education movement operated in a matrix of influence that involved educational research, philanthropy, and (both inter- and intra-) institutional…

As in the early days of the tribal college movement, tribal, federal, state, and private funding are still scarce. Fortunately, the founders of the movement, as well as those who worked at tribal colleges in the early days, created a template for others to follow. And tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) continue to turn out new leaders who are…

Background: This paper was prepared to address the issue of whether current levels of public expenditures on education are cost-effective in countries with widely differing average levels of education. Purpose: The paper examines the role of education in economic growth from a theoretical and historic perspective, addresses why education has been…

In recent years, in response to pressures to diversify their income, many British universities have established development and alumni relations offices. The creation of development offices illustrates how the internal environment of universities has been affected by the need for universities to meet challenges in the wider higher education…

A qualitative case study was conducted to determine whether major donors to an institution of higher education that existed to prepare ministers and missionaries were perceived by the institution's leaders as motivated by organizational effectiveness, financial efficiency, or evaluations by donor watchdog agencies. The case study was conducted…

Donations from alumni have historically been a leading source of charitable support for higher education. But in recent years, alumni supportiveness has been on a steady decline. Participation rates and gift sizes are at their lowest levels ever recorded. Nowhere is this issue more pressing than at private, master's comprehensive…

The 2017-18 school year saw our sponsorship portfolio grow from 4,100 students in 2016-17 to 4,800 students across five Ohio cities: Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Portsmouth. We're also honored to have been recognized by the National Association for Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) as part of NACSA's Quality Practice Project.…