Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-49).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-49).

Recently, the Mississippi community college system has experienced significant budget cuts. Although fundraising has long historical significance, it has not been fully embraced by the community college system. With the transfer of wealth estimated to be $41-$136 trillion over the next 40 years, there has never been a better time for community colleges to tell their story. Studies reveal that planned giving is a key strategy for fundraising and that new innovative ideas must be developed to take advantage of private sources of funding. Planned giving in the form of forestland donations is an innovative avenue that can benefit the institution and the potential donor through charitable estate planning. Although there are examples of planned giving through donations of forestland, there is not any extensive research on this subject involving community colleges. The purpose of this study was to use the concept of the Bulldog Forest at Mississippi State University to determine if the idea of the community college foundation forest would be feasible and valuable to implement within the Mississippi community college system. Holmes Community College (HCC) alumni, who fall into the non- industrial private forest landowner category, were surveyed to determine their interest in donating their forestland to the institution through charitable estate planning options. Through the use of growth-and-yield models, hypothetical management regimes were employed on hypothetical forestland donations to produce long-term cash flow scenarios for a specific rate of return for a specific rotation. These scenarios determined the level of funding that could be generated through a planned giving program involving forestland. The findings revealed that HCC alumni do not have an immediate interest in donating their forestland to the HCC foundation. It is recommended that personal connection(s) be established with these alumni along with the facets of planned giving explained by a trained professional. The findings also revealed that the donation of forestland can be very profitable for a community college foundation. However, further research is needed to explore the other charitable estate planning options since it was assumed that all of the hypothetical forestland donations were outright gifts.

Alumni associations and offices of development play fundamental roles in American higher education, typically having missions which include the generation of financial support for the institution. Alumni associations must develop strategies to encourage alumni to donate money and enable them to build long-term relationships between alumni organizations and the university. The foundation of any fund raising program is the annual fund. Not only does the annual fund represent a significant percentage of funds raised for most charities, it often comes with the fewest strings attached. If development professionals have a clear understanding of the issues and factors that influence donors to make annual gifts, they may be able to design cultivation and solicitation approaches which raise more money at less cost. The study uses quantitative methods to analyze data collected from the computer database of the Mississippi State University Foundation and Mississippi State University National Alumni Association to develop a profile of donors and non-donors. Recommendations for further study include more studies of this type in the region, interview studies with donors, and studying any relationships between giving and other variables, such as income level.

Gift-giving is a multimillion-dollar industry that affects almost everyone, and its economic importance is, "uncontested in terms of retail sales alone" (Sherry, 1983, p. 157). In romantic relationships, gift-giving plays an essential role in determining the overall satisfaction of the couple. With both positive and negative effects resulting from this exchange, it is curious why there is a desire to provide gifts in the first place. Are we lying when we say, "It1s the thought that counts," or has society really conditioned us to believe that gifts are a good proxy for feelings? This study investigates the reason behind gift-giving with regard to three distinct groups - intimate partners, family and friends - through the creation of a gift-giving scale. There is currently no validated measure for the effects of gift-giving. A factor analysis indicated a reliable 7-factor structure from the questionnaire: Gifts on Special Occasions, Jewelry, Use of 'Display of Gifts, Animals as Gifts, Gifts to/from a Significant Other, Money Earned, and Gifts for Pets. Each factor was tested using a 1-sample t-test to determine effects on gender in participant response. They were also analyzed with two one-way ANOVAs testing race and the participant's year-in-school for any effects. Six additional items of interest were analyzed and should be included in the scale. Gender differences were found for four of the seven factors, as well as effects for race and year-in-school. Six additional items from the Baruch Gift-Giving Scale were analyzed and shown to have significant gender differences in participant's beliefs on gift-giving. Through analysis of this research, we predict a better understanding of the importance that society and marketing place on gift-giving and the effect it has on relationships.

Today flexibility is an important part of organizational work. This study investigated the relationship between level of flexibility in scheduling and conflict level in caregiving teams, while controlling for team cohesion, team trust, age, team size and how long they have been in the team. The study was conducted in two small towns in the southeast of Sweden in elderly care and handicap care organizations. The ages of participants varied from 16 to 65 years. Out of 109 participants who filled out questionnaires 61 worked with an adapted (flexible) schedule and 48 with the ordinary schedule. Results showed no significant difference between the scheduling types and the conflict level, even after controlling for the named variables. Overall, it was found that team trust and team cohesion were more important for conflict level than scheduling type. / Today flexibility is an important part of organizational work. This study investigated the relationship between level of flexibility in scheduling and conflict level in caregiving teams, while controlling for team cohesion, team trust, age, team size and how long they have been in the team. The study was conducted in two small towns in the southeast of Sweden in elderly care and handicap care organizations. The ages of participants varied from 16 to 65 years. Out of 109 participants who filled out questionnaires 61 worked with an adapted (flexible) schedule and 48 with the ordinary schedule. Results showed no significant difference between the scheduling types and the conflict level, even after controlling for the named variables. Overall, it was found that team trust and team cohesion were more important for conflict level than scheduling type.

Although the non-profit sector is now the third largest sector of the global economy, relatively little is known about the psychological processes that underlie decisions to donate to charity. Across five experiments, the present research explores two factors that are thought to underlie giving: social norms and personal values. Study 1 elicits personal values and manipulates descriptive social norm information and finds that both of these factors influence giving behavior. Study 2 replicates these findings with injunctive norms in place of descriptive norms. Study 3 manipulates both descriptive and injunctive social norms within a single study and finds that while both have an influence on giving, they do not interact in any meaningful way with each other. Study 4 manipulates descriptive and injunctive norm information in the context of a realistic online donation decision and finds that both injunctive norms influence rates of giving, but that descriptive norm information alone influences willingness to give. Study 5 experimentally manipulates the costs and benefits associated with viewing social information and finds that while participants are willing to view social information when there are no associated costs, willingness to view information decreases dramatically under even very small costs. We conclude in Chapter 6 by discussing the implications of these findings and potential directions for future research.

No description available.

Older adults have been shown to avoid negative and prefer positive information to a higher extent than younger adults. This positivity bias influences their information processing as well as decision-making. We investigate age-related positivity bias in charitable giving in two studies. In Study 1 we examine motivational factors in monetary donations, while Study 2 focuses on the emotional effect of actual monetary donations. In Study 1, participants (n = 353, age range 20-74 years) were asked to rate their affect toward a person in need and then state how much money they would be willing to donate to help this person. In Study 2, participants (n = 108, age range 19-89) were asked to rate their affect toward a donation made a few days prior. Regression analysis was used to investigate whether or not the positivity bias influences the relationship between affect and donations. In Study 1, we found that older adults felt more sympathy and compassion and were less motivated by negative affect when compared to younger adults, who were motivated by both negative and positive affect. In Study 2, we found that the level of positive emotional reactions from monetary donations was higher in older participants compared to younger participants. We find support for an age-related positivity bias in charitable giving. This is true for motivation to make a future donation, as well as affective thinking about a previous donation. We conclude that older adults draw more positive affect from both the planning and outcome of monetary donations and hence benefit more from engaging in monetary charity than their younger counterparts. (authors' abstract)

When discussing charity, it is important to recognize that charity and other forms of giving are not solely done out of altruism, but can also be done out of greed and self promotion. It is especially important to recognize when those in power or those who have fame participate in this form of giving, because their actions may be emulated by others. This self aggrandizing giving has been done historically throughout multiple cultures as a way to gain or keep prestige, and also as a way to keep the boundaries between the classes strong. This is an important idea because, as I argue, giving as a way to gain public recognition and to keep social boundaries in place is still occurring today. This form of giving is what I label Conspicuous Charity. This is giving in which the main focuses of the participation in charity are the public and social benefits (such as prestige and recognition) to the givers, whereas the assistance to those in need is but a secondary benefit. The conspicuous use of charity also can take a broader approach, which I label Conspicuous Giving. This form of giving is presently being used as a way to keep those with fame, such as media celebrities, in the limelight, those with high standing in the global hierarchy at the top, and those at the top of the racial hierarchy separated from those at the bottom. In order to flesh out the concept of Conspicuous Giving, other forms of giving are also discussed such as Christmas gifts, bribes, and feasting. These cultural events are discussed within the context of multiple cultures as ways to show that using giving in a predatory manner is not a phenomenon unique to Western or even American culture. However, I argue that when it comes to this behavior, Americans are at the forefront of this movement into postmodernity.