Demographic, institutional and leadership characteristics affecting fund raising performance: A study of public colleges in New York State

Educational fund raising is an integral part of the strategy to sustain and grow for institutions of higher education in the United States. In 2001 State University of New York (SUNY) Chancellor Robert L. King announced a fund raising campaign to raise {dollar}1.0 billion over a five-year period. Much of the goal will be met by the university centers, but other institutions in the system must also contribute. The purpose of this descriptive study is to examine the fund raising performance of the comprehensive colleges in the SUNY system for the year ending June 30, 2000.; The research was conducted in three phases: (a) each college was ranked against similar institutions nationally on fund raising results; (b) through stepwise regression analysis, a formula to predict fund raising potential for each college was developed; (c) a survey was administered to key administrators at each institution to collect and analyze data on institutional leadership and demographic characteristics that may affect the fund raising performance.; For the period under study, it appears the SUNY comprehensive colleges will be most successful in fund raising if efforts are focused on programming to solicit support from individuals who are not alumni, foundations and parents.; Most opinions and attitudes of the presidents and chief advancement/development officers who responded to the survey appear to be consistent with what the literature cites for effective fund raising. Areas where respondents reported that more attention is needed include educating faculty on the need for fund raising, establishing concrete fund raising goals and defining, clarifying and communicating the image of the institution to all constituents both internal and external to the institution.