As noted in Philanthropy Journal, the Council for Aid to Education reports that charitable giving to colleges and universities declined by 12% in 2009, to $28 billion. This was the steepest decline ever recorded. Over the last ten years, higher ed giving has averaged 4% per year growth.
Also at this link is a listing of actual amounts raised, institution by institution, listed by state. About one-fourth of the $28 billion went to the top twenty universities.
This is not a fundraising market I know well.
CAE notes that gifts for capital purposes declined 25%, apparently reflecting the fact that many such donations come from gifts of appreciated securities … and we know where the market has been.
Anyone out there want to offer some hypotheses as to what’s going on? Or is it "just" the recession?
Tom
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Don’t know if this counts as a hypothesis, but I have some personal experience to offer. My experience has been higher ed in some cases still has the expectation that donors “owe” their school. That’s the impression I got as a senior in college when the alumni office contacted each student for a five year commitment. I was offended enough by how pushy they were during the same time that my college debt load was starting to sink in that I asked to be removed from their active solicitation list.
For a little context, I went to college in my hometown and met my husband there. The natural connections one has to his or her college were potentially stronger for me.
Flash forward eight years. My father, a community leader in my hometown, (who also had connections to my college) dies suddenly. It is widely known in my hometown (including at the college) that we have established a memorial fund in his honor that people contribute to very generously.
One of my father’s friends submits a photo I gave him to run in the alumni publication. One of the alumni officers at the college contacts me to confirm all details in the photo. I appreciate their attention to detail up until this point.
The moment the alumni officer has what is needed for the magazine, there’s no open ended questions to me. No acknowledgment of my loss. Just a, “I see you’re administering your father’s memorial fund. We’d like you to agree to be placed back on our active solicitation list.”
My issues with my college run far deeper than the crassness of this approach or the one made to me as a senior. They’re too lengthy to recount in one allegedly brief commentary. My reply to this alumni officer was, “I will consider that on one condition. I am back in town many Saturdays helping my mom with her needs. One of those Saturday’s I’d like to meet with you and discuss some significant concerns I have about my experience at this school.”
At that very moment, the alumni officer who had been promptly returning all of my emails and calls dropped off the face of the earth. Of course this person still works there. This experience was nearly five years ago.
In my own line of work, some of the best relationships and learning opportunities I have experienced have been the chance to listen to donor and potential donor concerns. I am still a little shocked my college doesn’t feel this way.
My husband once said he considered requests for funding from our college as meaningful as a request from our mortgage company for more money after we pay them off.
If all higher ed representatives are truly “valuing” alumni (i.e. caring about and engaging them and not just seeing dollar signs) in the same manner I experienced, then higher ed deserves a lot more than the drop they’ve already seen.
Certainly the recession is a big factor. But colleges and universities may have bigger problems than that. As boomers move into prime giving ages, they are less likely to support their educational institutions (or any large institutions) as much as their parents did. Boomers want to change the world — or at the very least, change their community — and their giving will reflect those values, leaving less money for their alma maters.
I’ve worked in university advancement for a few years now, and have several hypotheses:
1. Often, it is more challenging to show a university’s case for support as being compelling compared to other charities. (ex. Would you rather feed a family for a month or make a dent in a young adults tuition?) But just because it is hard, doesn’t mean it can’t be done!
2. Universities and colleges are not viewed by the general public as charities.
3. Overall, educational advancement offices don’t establish a positive presence of their own on campus.
Change is being made across the board by educational advancement professionals to adapt to the needs of students and alumni – but I think it will be a little while before we see a serious turn around in perception either by the alumni, donors or by fundraisers.
I would suggest the drop off in giving is largely due to stock values. Many donors use appreciated securities to fund their giving. With portfolio values at 8 year lows, donors resisted any further erosion to their nest eggs.
Stock gifts are usually some of the larger gifts an institution receives each year. When they are taken away, or reduced, it has a greater impact on total giving (institutionally and industry-wide).
The chronicles of philanthropy and higher ed have reported on a growing resistance to supporting large institutions that have multi-billion dollar endowments. Lots of money just sitting there in investments while persistent social problems (poverty, homelessness, hunger) and natural disasters are staring us in the face.
All very good observations. I think we all can easily agree that some of the downturn was the economy. I really wonder what % was the economy and what % was the fundraiser personal fear that now is not the right time. In my experience we in the profession have been the greatest obstacle by putting our personal filters before our prospects. On a linked group recently there was a discussion about is there ever a time when it’s not ok to ask. Many folks chimed in with observations, but nit a single professional said when the customer tells you. I wish we could measure the impact of our attitude. But the again I could be wrong.
I’m a 2005 graduate, and I do give to my university, but I waited 4 years bcause that’s how long it took for them to finally call me through the phone a thon program. Since then, and as a fundraising professional myself, I haven’t been too impressed with the work they do to retain me as a donor. When I was called to become a quarterly giver, the student had no clue that I was already a giver and that my pattern wasn’t to give to the school of business, but to the scholarship program that had funded my education….in fact they lacked the information that I had even received that scholarship and have given before. More troubling is that the data must be in such a mess that I often get calls during phoneathon cycles for other people to the mobile phone number I’ve had since college….and this is particularly annoying since I’m an Alumni chapter Leader in my region.
My point is, that unless you are one of the big schools with a well run development team, you’re probably making tons of mistakes without knowing it. Which at a time when the big money isn’t coming through, you really need to provide good stewardship to the smaller donors.
I am consistently amazed that people give the benefit of the doubt to large school development shops. So many professionals assume that because they are big they must be good. Seriously people most of these organizations have proved you can super size mediocrity. Toyota’s big…how do you think their doing? Let me date myself, Wang was kinda big..how do you like your word processor? For the record 80% of the original Fortune 500 are now longer in business. They were once big now they are just gone. But then again just my opinion, I could be wrong