Higher Education Fundraisal Paper

Higher Education Fundraising Using Public Relation Practices

The Excellence Study of public relations is studied in public relations courses throughout the United States. A variety of organizations were involved in the study including both for profit and non-profit organizations. However, there were no organizations from the higher education setting included in the study. In fact, very few studies have used the Excellence theory to examine how public relations is practiced in higher education. A true analysis of the Excellence study and how it applies to higher education is far too broad for the purpose of this presentation. Therefore, we will focus on a single aspect that is a part of every higher education institution. This study
In regards to donor relations, this would include the roles of the folks that assist the donor relations office. Just like an excellent communication program has a variety of roles, a variety of roles also exist in institutional donor relations. Normally, the top roles are something similar to a VP or associate VP of University Development. This person needs to have a very thorough understanding of the overall operations of donor relations. Also, in an excellent donor relations department, he or she is involved in the dominant coalition and allows the donor relations office to be represented in overall decision making of the institution and helps identify some emerging issues with other members of the dominant coalition. Major gift officers are responsible for research, cultivation and solicitation of individual donors which happens through traveling, phone calls and institutional events. A database administrator may also be on staff that is responsible for the institution's alumni and donor data. Gift processors enter gifts into the database as they come in and run basic reports on giving. A stewardship coordinator has the responsibility of making sure that all donors are recognized appropriately whether it is a letter or recognition in the institution magazine. The director of the institution's annual fund has the task of formulating strategies for pulling in funds for the annual fund account.
This especially applies to decentralized donor relation units emphasizing the importance for department chairs and faculty to play a larger role in fund-raising than they typically have in the past to appeal to today's donors. Two higher education consultants, Susan Frost and Larry Hirschhorn, have developed a methodology that brings together faculty and the board of trustees to develop programs that address societal issues that donors are interested in. "There has been a shift in how donors regard institutions," Hirschhorn says. "In the past, donors and alumni were closely held by ties of loyalty and sentiment to the institution and were easily connected to board members or high level administration. But today, the donors are much more topic oriented, they're more rational, and they scrutinize donor opportunities to see which best represent their values. In that context, the faculty's interest and passions become more important because they really are the university's window into the wider world." Frost and Hirschhorn note, "The work of academic leaders is not fundraising per se or a substitution for the work of fund-raising consultants. Rather, it is a way to align the institution's strengths and donors' interests." Basically, this is a system of compromise, a system where higher education leaders form committees and work with donors to create campaigns that strike