What motivates doctoral level alumni to contribute? Response to a segmented university fundraising appeal

Factors that influence doctoral level alumni philanthropy were identified. The central questions focused on the motivational elements of institutional bonding--with special emphasis on the effect of emotional attachment to a respected professor--and the effect of "volunteering" on doctoral level giving. "Method of contact" and "household income" were also considered.; The population surveyed was former students of Dr. August Eberle who had been asked to donate to the Eberle Endowment fund. Survey responses (58%) were analyzed using multiple regression. Qualitative analysis examined an open ended question that requested comments about Dr. Eberle.; Most of the statistical analyses did not support the institutional bonding hypothesis, revealing no systematic relationships among the factors that previous research had found to motivate bachelor degree recipients. More surprising, status as a volunteer had a negative effect on donorship to the endowment fund. When controlled for household income the best predictors of donorship were "employed in higher education (the field of preparation)", having been "solicited by phone" rather than by mail, previous "donation to the School of Education", and high "rating of the quality of their education". Though the effect of emotional attachment was not statistically significant in the regressions, analysis of comments and stories about Dr. Eberle did suggest that donors were more personally attached to Dr. Eberle than non-donors, suggesting the influence of a personal mode of institutional bonding (difference in means of donors and non-donors was statistically significant). Recommendations for further study included pursuing the discovery of the most effective methods for reinforcing and encouraging repeated giving, of donor attribute comparison between doctoral level alumni and graduates of professional schools, of the effect of discretionary income rather than household income on doctoral level giving, and exploring additional measures of emotional bonding.