Comparisons of Alumni Giving Through the Framework of the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification

Presentation Format

Individual Presentation

Intended Audience

Administrators

Program Abstract

In 2014, over $37.4 billion were given to colleges and universities across the United States, and 43.7% came directly from individual and alumni donors (Council for Aid to Education, 2015). Institutions can influence alumni donor behavior by enhancing the college experience, especially through academic and service-learning, community engagement (Hurvitz, 2010; Field, 2011; Weerts & Ronca, 2007). The presenters will share aggregate data of alumni giving at three different institutions to determine the impact of service-learning and enhanced student experience through the lenses of personal interviews and data provided the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification and reclassification applications.

Presentation Description

Leslie and Ramey (1988) stated that “voluntary support is becoming the only source of real discretionary money [that a college or university has]” (p. 115). An institution’s opportunity to influence alumni donor participation occurs the first time students walk on campus, and

Students who are engaged in the community while in college are more likely to be active in their communities as alums (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). The objective of this presentation is to share findings and trends of alumni giving at three de-identified institutions in the southeast that classified for the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification (CCEC) in 2008 and reclassified in 2015. The aim is to identify correlations between the intentionality of deeper and more pervasive community engagement, enhancing student experience, and the change in student behavior to observe if they are engaged in financially supporting their alma maters. This workshop will provide administrators insight into the engagement of students in service-learning and the long-term returns, via alumni donor participation. The data being examined in this presentation are from 2008 classification applications and 2015 reclassification applications of the three de-identified institutions and raw data from alumni donor participation data over a 20-year span, from 1995-2015, from the same higher education institutions.

With a 20-year span of raw data from the alumni giving databases, participants will be able to identify trends in alumni giving over the same timeframe and take a snapshot of the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification (2007-2008) and Reclassification (2012-2013) data points to see if there is a correlation between the institutions’ focus on community engagement (e.g., volunteerism, advocacy, research, and service-learning) and student experience and alumni donor participation).

The rationale for this presentation is to better understand the financial trends of alumni philanthropic giving. The presenters will illustrate the connection between the timeframe of the initial classification and reclassification periods. The workshop will inform administrators of the importance of engaging students with their campus and local communities while in school, and the benefits of receiving financial support from as alums based on those experiences as continued active citizens.

Participants will be engaged by reviewing the CCEC process and outcomes of three different institution types within the same metro area and discussing similarities and differences to their own institution – the same will be done by assessing the alumni donor participation rates from 1995-present at the same three institutions. Finally, the audience will be engaged by reviewing alumni giving from 1995-present to determine changes, especially during the periods of the initial CCEC and the reclassification over time and across institution type.

Participants will appraise the return on investment for each of the three institutions who invest in students’ involvement via community engagement activities to alums paying it forward by investing in their alma mater through alumni giving. Practitioners’ take-away will be to engage in conversation and adopt the methodology of associating the CCEC and student engagement to alumni giving and apply it at their own institution.

Location

Room - 210

Start Date

4-15-2016 9:45 AM

End Date

4-15-2016 11:00 AM

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Apr 15th, 9:45 AM Apr 15th, 11:00 AM

Comparisons of Alumni Giving Through the Framework of the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification

Room - 210

Leslie and Ramey (1988) stated that “voluntary support is becoming the only source of real discretionary money [that a college or university has]” (p. 115). An institution’s opportunity to influence alumni donor participation occurs the first time students walk on campus, and

Students who are engaged in the community while in college are more likely to be active in their communities as alums (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). The objective of this presentation is to share findings and trends of alumni giving at three de-identified institutions in the southeast that classified for the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification (CCEC) in 2008 and reclassified in 2015. The aim is to identify correlations between the intentionality of deeper and more pervasive community engagement, enhancing student experience, and the change in student behavior to observe if they are engaged in financially supporting their alma maters. This workshop will provide administrators insight into the engagement of students in service-learning and the long-term returns, via alumni donor participation. The data being examined in this presentation are from 2008 classification applications and 2015 reclassification applications of the three de-identified institutions and raw data from alumni donor participation data over a 20-year span, from 1995-2015, from the same higher education institutions.

With a 20-year span of raw data from the alumni giving databases, participants will be able to identify trends in alumni giving over the same timeframe and take a snapshot of the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification (2007-2008) and Reclassification (2012-2013) data points to see if there is a correlation between the institutions’ focus on community engagement (e.g., volunteerism, advocacy, research, and service-learning) and student experience and alumni donor participation).

The rationale for this presentation is to better understand the financial trends of alumni philanthropic giving. The presenters will illustrate the connection between the timeframe of the initial classification and reclassification periods. The workshop will inform administrators of the importance of engaging students with their campus and local communities while in school, and the benefits of receiving financial support from as alums based on those experiences as continued active citizens.

Participants will be engaged by reviewing the CCEC process and outcomes of three different institution types within the same metro area and discussing similarities and differences to their own institution – the same will be done by assessing the alumni donor participation rates from 1995-present at the same three institutions. Finally, the audience will be engaged by reviewing alumni giving from 1995-present to determine changes, especially during the periods of the initial CCEC and the reclassification over time and across institution type.

Participants will appraise the return on investment for each of the three institutions who invest in students’ involvement via community engagement activities to alums paying it forward by investing in their alma mater through alumni giving. Practitioners’ take-away will be to engage in conversation and adopt the methodology of associating the CCEC and student engagement to alumni giving and apply it at their own institution.