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Hbcus: A Case Study

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Alumni giving rates at private historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) lag behind the national averages of all private institutions of higher education (Robinson, n.d.). The average alumni giving rate among private HBCUs is 11% (Robinson, n.d.), while all private colleges and universities yield a 20% rate (Malhere, 2015). A culture of philanthropy among HBCU alumni has not been prevalent, although many of the institutions have been producing graduates since the late 19th century. Simply put, alumni have not lived up to what they should do to support their alma maters (Cohen, 2006). HBCUs have traditionally relied on large institutional fundraising sources, such as foundations and corporations. Historically, however, …show more content…

This presents a serious risk to the futures of thousands of African American students. If HBCUs are to survive, they must increase financial contributions from alumni. This is particularly true at private institutions, where there is little or no revenue from states, upon which public institutions rely heavily. Alumni giving at public HBCUs is also becoming increasingly important because state funding is decreasing and the overall funding received from states is not on par with their majority institution counterparts (Gasman, 2010). HBCUs must enhance their alumni fundraising results in order to generate revenue to sustain them. Understanding the motivators to alumni giving at HBCUs can be critical to helping them improve alumni giving rates, and thus, the amount provided by them. There have been many research studies to determine the factors that affect alumni giving. One study found that there is a positive correlation between alumni perceptions of their undergraduate experience and their chances of financially supporting and participating with their institution (Gaier, 2005). Institutions should understand the key factors that contribute to those alumni perceptions so that they can make operational decisions designed to improve student

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