IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/edecon/v22y2014i3p293-304.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The anatomy of a likely donor: econometric evidence on philanthropy to higher education

Author

Listed:
  • Christen Lara
  • Daniel Johnson

Abstract

In 2011, philanthropic giving to higher education institutions totaled $30.3 billion, an 8.2% increase over the previous year. Roughly, 26% of those funds came from alumni donations. This article builds upon existing economic models to create an econometric model to explain and predict the pattern of alumni giving. We test the model using data from over 27,000 alumni at a private liberal arts college, and report on the probable profiles for annual fund donors.

Suggested Citation

  • Christen Lara & Daniel Johnson, 2014. "The anatomy of a likely donor: econometric evidence on philanthropy to higher education," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 293-304, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:edecon:v:22:y:2014:i:3:p:293-304
    DOI: 10.1080/09645292.2013.766672
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/09645292.2013.766672
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/09645292.2013.766672?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Monks, James, 2003. "Patterns of giving to one's alma mater among young graduates from selective institutions," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 121-130, April.
    2. Huck Steffen & Rasul Imran, 2010. "Transactions Costs in Charitable Giving: Evidence from Two Field Experiments," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-35, April.
    3. Barro, Robert J, 1974. "Are Government Bonds Net Wealth?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(6), pages 1095-1117, Nov.-Dec..
    4. Wunnava, Phanindra V. & Lauze, Michael A., 2001. "Alumni giving at a small liberal arts college: evidence from consistent and occasional donors," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 533-543, December.
    5. Marr, Kelly A. & Mullin, Charles H. & Siegfried, John J., 2005. "Undergraduate financial aid and subsequent alumni giving behavior," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 123-143, February.
    6. Albert Ade. Okunade & Phanindra V. Wunnava & Raymond Walsh, 1994. "Charitable Giving of Alumni," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(1), pages 73-84, January.
    7. Thomas H. Bruggink & Kamran Siddiqui, 1995. "An Econometric Model of Alumni Giving: A Case Study for a Liberal Arts College," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 39(2), pages 53-60, October.
    8. Clotfelter, C. T., 2003. "Alumni giving to elite private colleges and universities," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 109-120, April.
    9. Brendan M. Cunningham & Carlena K. Cochi-Ficano, 2002. "The Determinants of Donative Revenue Flows from Alumni of Higher Education: An Empirical Inquiry," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 37(3), pages 540-569.
    10. Gordon C. Winston, 1999. "Subsidies, Hierarchy and Peers: The Awkward Economics of Higher Education," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 13-36, Winter.
    11. Meer, Jonathan, 2011. "Brother, can you spare a dime? Peer pressure in charitable solicitation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7), pages 926-941.
    12. Leung, Siu Fai & Yu, Shihti, 1996. "On the choice between sample selection and two-part models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1-2), pages 197-229.
    13. Andreoni, James, 1989. "Giving with Impure Altruism: Applications to Charity and Ricardian Equivalence," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(6), pages 1447-1458, December.
    14. Asheim, Geir B., 1991. "Unjust intergenerational allocations," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 350-371, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. repec:pri:cepsud:224rosen is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Ilda Maria Pedro & Júlio Costa Mendes & Luís Nobre Pereira, 2020. "Identifying patterns of alumni commitment in key strategic relationship programmes," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 17(4), pages 445-468, December.
    3. João R. Faria & Franklin G. Mixon, 2018. "Entrepreneurial Philanthropy and University Creation: An Economic Model," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 9(3), pages 1067-1086, September.
    4. Donald G. Gardner & Jon L. Pierce, 2022. "The Psychology of Financial Giving: Values Congruence and Normative Organizational Commitment as Predictors of Alumni Monetary Donations to Higher Education," Societies, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-13, August.
    5. Jonathan Meer & Harvey S. Rosen, 2009. "Family Bonding with Universities," NBER Working Papers 15493, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Meer, Jonathan & Rosen, Harvey S., 2012. "Does generosity beget generosity? Alumni giving and undergraduate financial aid," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 890-907.
    2. Holmes, Jessica, 2009. "Prestige, charitable deductions and other determinants of alumni giving: Evidence from a highly selective liberal arts college," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 18-28, February.
    3. repec:pri:cepsud:224rosen is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Yuha Jung & Min-Young Lee, 2019. "Exploring Departmental-Level Fundraising: Relationship-Based Factors Affecting Giving Intention in Arts Higher Education," International Journal of Higher Education, Sciedu Press, vol. 8(3), pages 235-235, June.
    5. Meer, Jonathan & Rosen, Harvey S., 2012. "Does generosity beget generosity? Alumni giving and undergraduate financial aid," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 890-907.
    6. Jonathan Meer & Harvey S. Rosen, 2011. "Does Generosity Beget Generosity? Alumni Giving and Undergraduate Financial Aid," Working Papers 1361, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    7. Jessica A. Holmes & James A. Meditz & Paul M. Sommers, 2008. "Athletics and Alumni Giving," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 9(5), pages 538-552, October.
    8. Phanindra V. Wunnava & Albert A. Okunade, 2013. "Do Business Executives Give More to Their Alma Mater? Longitudinal Evidence from a Large University," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(3), pages 761-778, July.
    9. Jonathan Meer & Harvey S. Rosen, 2007. "Altruism and the Child-Cycle of Alumni Giving," NBER Working Papers 13152, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Marr, Kelly A. & Mullin, Charles H. & Siegfried, John J., 2005. "Undergraduate financial aid and subsequent alumni giving behavior," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 123-143, February.
    11. Jonathan Meer & Harvey S Rosen, 2007. "Altruism and the Child-Cycle of Alumni Donations," Working Papers 150, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    12. Leiyu Mo & Yuting Zhu, 2022. "How Is Alumni Giving Affected by Satisfactory Campus Experience? Analysis of an Industry-Research-Oriented University in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-17, June.
    13. Meer, Jonathan & Rosen, Harvey S., 2009. "The impact of athletic performance on alumni giving: An analysis of microdata," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 287-294, June.
    14. Meer, Jonathan & Rosen, Harvey S., 2011. "The ABCs of charitable solicitation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(5-6), pages 363-371, June.
    15. Anwar Shah & Karim Khan & Muhammad Tariq Majeed, 2015. "The Effects of Informational Framing on Charitable Pledges - Experimental Evidence from a Fund Raising Campaign," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 54(1), pages 35-54.
    16. Monks, James, 2003. "Patterns of giving to one's alma mater among young graduates from selective institutions," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 121-130, April.
    17. repec:pri:cepsud:187rosen is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Bao, Jingyuan & Durango-Cohen, Elizabeth J. & Levontin, Liat & Durango-Cohen, Pablo L., 2022. "Analysis of factors influencing recurring donations in a university setting: A compound poisson mixture regression model," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 489-503.
    19. Jonathan Meer & Harvey S. Rosen, 2009. "Family Bonding with Universities," NBER Working Papers 15493, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Malcolm Getz & John Siegfried, 2010. "What Does Intercollegiate Athletics Do To or For Colleges and Universities?," Vanderbilt University Department of Economics Working Papers 1005, Vanderbilt University Department of Economics.
    21. Alexander L. Brown & Jonathan Meer & J. Forrest Williams, 2019. "Why Do People Volunteer? An Experimental Analysis of Preferences for Time Donations," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(4), pages 1455-1468, April.
    22. Stefan Hoffmann & Stefan Müller, 2008. "Intention postgradualer Bindung: Warum Studenten der Wirtschaftswissenschaften nach dem Examen dem Alumniverein beitreten wollen," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 60(6), pages 570-600, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:edecon:v:22:y:2014:i:3:p:293-304. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CEDE20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.