Toward a Theory of Fund Raising in Higher Education

Authors:
  • WLWilliam F. Lasher
    William F. Lasher
  • WCW. Bruce Cook
    W. Bruce Cook
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Abstract
Fund raising has played a prominent role in the history of American higher education and long been a central function of the academic presidency. Today fund raising provides support for more areas of higher education than ever before, and academic chief executives are increasingly expected or required to take an active role in procuring and stewarding private gifts for their institutions. This research was the first study of this phenomenon that is both national in scope and theory generating. The authors identified the key variables or prerequisites which determine fund-raising outcomes and formulated theoretical models which explain, respectively, the fund-raising process and presidential fund raising in higher education.