Long-Serving Faculty and Campus Activities Draw Big College Gifts

Long-serving presidents and professors, generous trustees, and extensive campus activities that turn today’s students into tomorrow’s fond alumni are key factors in drawing million-dollar-plus gifts to colleges and universities, The Chronicle of Higher Education writes, citing new research.

Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and the fundraising consulting firm Johnson Grossnickle and Associates analyzed nearly 1,500 institutions that have received donations of seven or more figures and isolated numerous characteristics that make universities “million-dollar ready.” Less than a third of U.S. colleges attracted individual gifts of $1-million or more from 2000 to 2012.

Common factors for schools that draw big donations include large endowments, a positive student experience, a high percentage of tenured faculty, presidents in office since 2000, and board members who set the philanthropic pace by giving themselves. Strong national rankings and steady enrollment growth also correlated with an increase in major gifts.