Cultivating a Culture of Giving: An Exploration of Institutional Strategies to Enhance African American Young Alumni Giving

Final Report for AFP Research Grant

Noah D. Drezner, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Higher Education University of Maryland – College Park Education Leadership, Higher Education, & International Education 2103 Benjamin Building College Park, MD 20742 [email protected] 301-405-2980 (w) 301-405-3573 (f)

September 23, 2008

Introduction & Overview I am pleased to report that I have completed my dissertation “Cultivating a Culture of Giving: An Exploration of Institutional Strategies to Enhance African American Young alumni Giving” resulting in my graduation from the University of Pennsylvania and appoint to the faculty at the University of Maryland – College Park. This study includes a comprehensive literature review of scholarly and practitioner writings on philanthropy and fundraising in college and universities, within the African American communities as well as literature pertaining to the allied filed of social psychology, specifically that of prosocial behavior; and a case study of the United Negro College Fund’s (UNCF) National Pre-Alumni Council (NPAC). Guided by prosocial behavior, organizational development, and relationship marketing theories this organizational case study explores how NPAC instills the importance of giving to students and what influences participants’ philanthropic behaviors. This study enhances our knowledge of how institutions, specifically private historically Black colleges and universities, instill the idea of ‘giving back’ in students and why young people decide to support higher education and other philanthropic causes. More specifically, this research broadens our understanding of how African Americans in the millennial generation think about and choose to act philanthropically and the role that Black colleges play in the cultivation of these behaviors. NPAC’s programs use both extrinsic and intrinsic motivations that stimulate college students to respond with participation as both donors and fundraisers. They motivate students with gifts and opportunities that are appropriate for the developmental stage of college students. Further the use of messages and opportunities to participate in racial and community uplift adds to NPAC’s success and the participants’ desires to be involved. NPAC continually connects their work to the African American experience.

Additionally, NPAC’s education of students on the importance of giving and needs of the UNCF and the member colleges is extremely important to involving students in their work. Parental modeling and the African American church are also found to be important influences on these students’ prosocial behaviors and decisions to participate. This work is supported by and advances our understanding of the theoretical literature surrounding philanthropy, fundraising, and prosocial behavior. Methodology Generally, qualitative methods are useful in investigating emerging ideas and in the creation of new theories (Creswell, 2003; Strauss & Corbin, 1994). In addition, qualitative methods are used to understand the context of a situation, the influence of the environment or personal background on the study participants’ actions, the process of how events take place, and the meaning of different variables in the phenomena (Maxwell, 1996; Merriam, 1988). Much of the philanthropic literature, both in and out of higher education, is primarily based on large-scale quantitative surveys and does not focus on how young alumni choose to make their first gifts to an institution. These studies do not describe how students make decisions to engage in prosocial behavior or their reasons for wanting to make a philanthropic contribution, which are complex phenomena. Therefore, I used case study methodology to explore the following guiding question: How does the National Pre-Alumni Council instill the importance of giving in its members, other students, and young alumni? Case study methodology, in which a contemporary phenomenon is investigated within its real-life context, was appropriate given my interest in understanding the “contextual conditions” that instill prosocial behavior among college students (Yin, 2003b). The results of this case study are not generalizable to all institutions of higher education since the case is influenced by a

number of specific and unique factors. In fact case studies are not intended to be generalizable (Merriam, 1998). Rather, my goal was to identify strategies that may be particularly effective in imparting the importance of and a culture of giving to African American college students (Merriam, 1998). In this study I used multiple sources of data and information, including institutional documents, interviews with students and advisors, and observations (Stake, 1995; Yin, 2003a). My study included perspectives of key external and internal stakeholders (the UNCF, students, administrators, and alumni). This study included 25 one to one-and-a-half hour interviews from (21 students and four NPAC advisors) from 13 institutions, representing one-third of the UNCF member colleges. To add context to my study I used primary and secondary document analysis along with the interviews in an attempt to understand how cultures of giving are instilled in young Black donors. The primary and secondary source analysis included institutional documents (such as The Torch, the NPAC newsletter and NPAC fundraising manuals) and national fundraising reports (such as Giving USA and the Voluntary Support for Education annual studies). Selected Findings The National Pre-Alumni Council instills a culture of giving among students, honing their school spirit, exploring their want to advance African American communities, and teaching them the importance of philanthropy to the UNCF and their institutions while providing them the skills to fundraise. The challenge for the UNCF and the member institutions is to develop strategies that encourage greater prosocial behavior among students, coupled with appropriate volunteer and fundraising opportunities that can lead to greater giving in the future. The UNCF and institutional advancement officers at member colleges understand that fundraising and

relationship building are long-term processes. Those involved acknowledge that beginning these processes while their constituents are students is both easier and potentially more fruitful than after their alumni have departed campus. However, the United Negro College Fund and the individual institutions must remain committed to cultivating young alumni after graduation in order to realize the true investments of their efforts with NPAC. This study explored the impact of students’ participation in NPAC on their prosocial behaviors, and how the organization instills a culture of giving that can result in enhanced alumni donations. Through case study of the National Pre-Alumni Council of the UNCF, I looked at how the organization, via student and UNCF advisors’ participation, encouraged greater prosocial behavior. The study looked at what fundraising strategies were employed and how extrinsic and intrinsic motivations were used. The theories behind prosocial behavior development, organizational identity, donor motivations, and continuity theory illuminate the need for successful organizations such as NPAC. Further, understanding the accomplishments of Black college alumni and their entrance into the American middle-class and beyond, the investment of time and often resources to engage students so that they become active alumni will reap beneficial returns for their institutions. Although it does not directly benefit the UNCF or the institution NPAC’s efforts to engage students in the planning and service of projects that help communities may instill a culture of prosocial behavior that will likely result in an increase propensity to give time or money to the UNCF or their alma mater. During interviews, students’ passion when speaking about these projects was remarkable; throughout this study, participants spoke about the need to

do work within the community and how it added to their college experiences and encouraged them to be involved in the pre-alumni council. NPAC’s involvement with the African American church and the tradition of philanthropy through religion is another remarkable finding. Connecting giving to the UNCF and alma mater to the work of the African American church has added benefit the College Fund. Much like the intrinsic motivations discussed earlier, African Americans’ commitment to the church is often predicated on racial uplift. As Gasman and Anderson-Thompkins (2003) noted, if HBCUs can show that they are instruments of racial uplift, then the institutions can benefit from the passion to give such as there is for the church. Having pastors make that claim is important, as the respect for clergy in the African American communities is high (Ellison & Sherkat, 1995). The use of local pastors to solicit congregants to support student fundraising efforts, such as in the case of Tougaloo College, is beneficial in the development of the students’ prosocial aptitude. For example, observing the generosity of the local community is a model of prosocial behavior that students can subscribe to after graduation (Holloman, Gasman, & Anderson-Thompkins, 2003). Dissemination I have had the fortune of disseminating the results of my study in stages and in a number of venues. To date I have one publication and four presentations stemming from this research (see below). I am in the midst of preparing manuscripts looking at (1) the African American churches role in the millennial generation’s prosocial behavior; and (2) Black colleges’ role in imparting prosocial behaviors to their students and the encouragement of other volunteerism leading to increased involvement in their alma mater and the UNCF. This piece highlights the use of extrinsic and intrinsic motivations on college-aged students to engage in giving. I intend to

use two of the following academic venues to publish these in the International Journal of Educational Advancement, Journal of Higher Education, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Journal of College Student Development, or potentially the new journal The Black College Review: Research, Policy and Practice. Additionally, I plan to pen a practitionerfocused article for review and potential publication in AFP’s Advancing Philanthropy. In each publication and presentation the funding I received for the Association of Fundraising Professionals Research Council is (or will be) acknowledged. Current Publications Drezner, Noah D. (forthcoming, 2008). “For alma mater and The Fund: The United Negro College Fund’s National Pre-Alumni Council and the creation of the next generation of donors” in M. Gasman & C. Tudico (Eds.) Triumphs and Troubles: Historical and Contemporary Essays on Black Colleges. New York: Pelgrave Macmillan. Current Presentations Drezner, Noah D. “An Exploration of Institutional Strategies to Enhance Black College Giving Through Imparting Students with a Culture of Giving,” American Educational Research Association, New York, New York, 2008. Drezner, Noah D. “Cultivating a Culture of Giving: An Exploration of Institutional Strategies to Enhance African American Alumni Giving,” University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education Student Research Showcase, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2008. Selected representative of the Higher Education Program Drezner, Noah D. “For Alma Mater and The Fund: The United Negro College Fund’s National Pre-Alumni Council and the Creation of the Next Generation of Donors,” American Educational Research Association, Chicago, Illinois, 2007. Drezner, Noah D. “Establishing a Culture of Giving through the United Negro College Fund’s National Pre-Alumni Council,” Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Atlanta, Georgia, 2006.

References

Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Ellison, C. G. & Sherkat, D. E. (1995) The "Semi-involuntary Institution" revisited: Regional variations in church participation among Black Americans. Social Forces, 73(4), 14151437. Gasman, M., & Anderson-Thompkins, S. (2003). Fund raising from Black college alumni: Successful strategies for supporting alma mater. Washington, DC: Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. Holloman, D., Gasman, M., & Anderson-Thompkins, S. (2003). Motivations for philanthropic giving in the African American church: Implications for Black college fundraising. Journal of Research on Christian Education, 12(2). Maxwell, J. A. (1996). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Merriam, S. (1988). Case study research in education: a qualitative approach. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Strauss, A. & Corbin, J. (1994). Grounded theory methodology: an overview. In N. K. Denzin, & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (chap. 17, pp. 273-285). Yin, R. K. (2003a). Applications of case study research, 2nd edition. Applied Social Research Methods Series, Volume 34. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Yin, R. K. (2003b). Case study research: Design and methods (3rd Edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.