| This study surveyed alumnae to obtain information about how women college graduates approach philanthropic decisions. It reports data from the 295 women who received Bachelor's degrees from Hofstra University between 1939 and 1994 and who responded to the survey. The survey contained 74 questions of which 63 pertained to thoughts and feelings on philanthropy and 11 pertained to demographic characteristics of the respondents. Answers to the questions on how women make decisions, how they prefer to be asked for a gift, the programs and projects they prefer to support, and what factors influence their decisions were analyzed by frequency of responses, decade in which they graduated, by whether they were donors or nondonors, by employment status, by personal income levels, and by school (division). The performance of statistical procedures, including frequencies, crosstabs, and ANOVAS found most statistically significant differences attributable to whether the alumna was a donor or nondonor. The findings indicate that there were 15 variables on which donors and nondonors showed statistically significant differences. They differed on the importance of: a desire to help the next generation; loyalty to the university; a feeling of rebuilding or repaying; brochures, letters and reminders received from the university; and a sense of obligation. They differed on purposes for support: student scholarships, awards and loans; the library; a general fund to be used where it is most needed; renovations and new buildings; women's athletics; and the endowment. Rankings of donor and nondonor responses was almost identical. The differences appear in the strength of the responses from each group for each variable. Both donors and nondonors would be more likely to support scholarships than any other program. There were no statistically significant differences based on personal income. Recent graduates prefer a current student or faculty member to contact them to ask for a gift, while graduates of earlier decades do not. The importance of invitations to special events differed by employment status. The survey appears in the Appendix. |
