University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 5-2015 The factors that influenced the decision ot enter into a $1 billion fundraising campaign by two public higher education institutions William Rhodes Logan University of Tennessee - Knoxville, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Higher Education Commons Recommended Citation Logan, William Rhodes, "The factors that influenced the decision to enter into a $1 billion fundraising campaign by two public higher education institutions. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2015. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/3347 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by William Rhodes Logan entitled "The factors that influenced the decision ot enter into a $1 billion fundraising campaign by two public higher education institutions." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Higher Education Administration. Norma Mertz, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Robert Cunningham, Dorian McCoy, Caula Beyl Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) The factors that influenced the decision to enter into a $1 billion fundraising campaign by two public higher education institutions A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville William Rhodes Logan May 2015 ii Copyright William Rhodes Logan All rights reserved. iii Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my loving and understanding wife Amy Logan and beautiful children Wendy and Alex for their support on the long journey of completing this process. iv Acknowledgments First I would like to thank my first chair, the late Dr. Grady Bogue, for his unyielding support of me. He continually recognized and demanded my best, I will always be grateful for his firm but supportive encouragement. Second, I would like to thank Dr. Norma Mertz for her great patience and drive that allowed me to finish this study. I am grateful for her willingness to help me meet the high expectations demanded of all students in the program. Additionally, I would like to thank Dr. Caula Beyl for her support in this study and as a colleague at the University of Tennessee; Dr. Robert Cunningham for his patience with me in my graduate and doctoral program; and Dr. Dorian McCoy for his willingness to join the team late in the process. Next I would like to thank God and my family, specifically my wife Amy for her consistent support, and reminder that this was a marathon and not a sprint. My friends in the doctoral cohort were great sources of encouragement as we took a journey together through coursework and dissertations. I believe that I am the last from this group to finish and am proud to call them colleagues and friends. Finally, my sincere appreciation goes out to the men and women who participated in my study. Without their willingness to share their opinions and assistance, this study would not have been possible. Thank you for your courage and wisdom. v Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore the factors that influenced the decision to enter into a $1 billion fundraising campaign by two public higher education institutions. The research was guided by two questions: 1. What factors influenced the decision to enter into a $1 billion or more fundraising campaign in each of the two public higher education institutions? 2. Were there factors shared by both institutions, and were differences apparent? Data were collected from 14 in-depth interviews with presidents, vice presidents for development, fundraising volunteers, fundraising campaign consultants, and other members of the staff who were familiar with the factors that entered into the decision to set the fundraising campaign goal at $1 billion at the University of Tennessee and the University of Maryland College Park. Four key factors common to both institutions emerged: Volunteers serving in fundraising roles for the university were very influential, volunteers serving in fundraising roles also served on the boards of oversight and used this position to influence the acceptance of the $1 billion campaign, prior fundraising success encouraged volunteers serving in fundraising roles to push for the $1 billion fundraising goal, and volunteer and administrative leadership ignored the $800 million recommendation of their consultant’s feasibility study. Fundraising volunteers appeared to have had considerably more influence at these institutions than any other single factor in entering into a $1 billion fundraising campaign. The findings are discussed in chapter 6, as are a discussion, methodological considerations, and recommendations for future research. vi Table of Contents Chapter I Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 Background and Context................................................................................................................. 1 Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................................ 5 Purpose of the Study ....................................................................................................................... 5 Research Questions ......................................................................................................................... 6 Limitations ...................................................................................................................................... 7 Delimitations of the Study .............................................................................................................. 8 Definitions....................................................................................................................................... 8 Chapter II Review of the Literature ............................................................................................. 10 History of Fundraising Campaigns in America ............................................................................ 10 Planning a Fundraising Campaign ................................................................................................ 24 Role of the Campaign Consultant in Campaign Planning ............................................................ 28 The Strategic Plan ......................................................................................................................... 30 The Case Statement....................................................................................................................... 32 Rating the Potential Donor Base ................................................................................................... 33 Key Figures in a Fundraising Campaign ...................................................................................... 35 The President ................................................................................................................................ 35 The Chief Development Officer ................................................................................................... 40 Volunteer Leadership and Governing Boards............................................................................... 43 How Gifts Can be Given to a Higher Education Institution in a Fundraising Campaign ............. 47 Traditional Gifts to an Institution ................................................................................................. 47 Endowments .................................................................................................................................. 50 Institutionally Related Foundations .............................................................................................. 52 Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 61 Chapter III Research Design and Methodology........................................................................... 63 Research Design............................................................................................................................ 63 Research Sites and Population ...................................................................................................... 64 Research Methods/ Sources of Data ............................................................................................. 67 Data Collection Procedures ........................................................................................................... 70 vii Data Analysis ................................................................................................................................ 73 Trustworthiness of Data ...............................................................................................................