This study compared College of Agriculture (COA) alumni of a research university (RU/VH) in the Southern U.S. on selected demographic characteristics and contact information by whether or not the alumni are donors to the university. The target population was COA graduates from 1862 Land Grant Universities located in the Southern portion of the United States. The accessible population was Louisiana State University (LSU) COA alumni graduates. The sample was alumni who completed their degree program from the years 1950 through 2000. The instrument used was the Tiger Advancement Information Lookup System (TAILS) database.
Universities have become burdened by financial instability due to the increasing number of students enrolled in college and state budget cuts to higher education. Alumni donations acquired through fund raising efforts have been put in the forefront of raising money to support and sustain the mission of higher education. Targeting alumni is a way to increase funding and endowments for support to higher education. Alumni have become an integral component in the fund raising scheme of higher education.
The methodology of this descriptive exploratory study involved downloading alumni data from the university foundation database. The study found that alumni donors and nondonors were different on a number of demographic characteristics. Additionally, models were found explaining number of donations, largest donation, total amount of donation, and total donations specific to agriculture. In addition, a logistical model was identified that correctly classified 84.1% of alumni on donor status.
The researcher concluded that non-employment university affiliation and total number of contacts were important explanatory factors. Recommendations included establishment of more affiliation opportunities and increased frequency of contacts with alumni.
The researcher recommended increasing non-traditional methods of contact and involving alumni through various forms of affiliation by creating new types, especially within areas identified by this study in the states with cluster groups of 50 or more alumni. Furthermore, the researcher recommended studies on contact information, and non-employment university affiliation be conducted in an effort to increase the percentage of classifying alumni donor status. The researcher recommends student involvement through club affiliation in an effort to build relationships prior to graduation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-04262012-152205 |
| Date | 30 April 2012 |
| Creators | Rodrigue, Arlette Barbara Rodriguez |
| Contributors | Burnett, Michael, Johnson, Earl, Johnson, Geraldine, Verma, Satish, Reagan, Thomas E. |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04262012-152205/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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