In “Alma Mater” We Trust? Exploring Attitudes toward Institutions and Alumni Giving

Abstract

Background/Context Government support for higher education has decreased over the past few decades. In turn, institutions are seeking alternative sources of funding and increasing reliance on alumni giving. Although trust is important to social institutions and nonprofits, we know little about the role of trust in alumni engagement. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study We empirically assess the association between trust and philanthropic giving. We aim to determine the effectiveness of using trust as a predictor for giving attitudes and behavior. More specifically, we seek to answer the following research questions: 1. To what extent does trust in alma mater vary across socio-demographic characteristics? 2. To what extent does trust in alma mater correlate with alumni engagement (self-reported behavior and attitudes) with philanthropic giving? 3. Does the strength of the association between trust in alma mater and alumni engagement hold after controlling for socio-demographic characteristics? Population/Participants/Subjects Data for this study came from the National Alumni Giving Experiment (NAGE) conducted in 2014 (n=1,553). The NAGE survey instrument was designed as a web-based, self-administered questionnaire, with attitudinal items developed based on previous research and common practices in public opinion research. Respondents were recruited and paid via Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk). The NAGE sample is comparable with the General Social Survey's (2012/2014) college educated sample. Research Design We used a sequential mixed-methods research design (QUAN > qual). In the first stage, which is the main portion our study, we employed multivariate analysis to examine (a) socio-demographic variations in trust in alma mater, and (b) the correlations between trust and philanthropic giving. In the second stage, we coded and analyzed open-ended responses. We analyzed the quantitative and qualitative data separately, but we connect the findings to produce a comprehensive analysis of the role of trust in philanthropic giving to higher education. Findings/Results We found that alumni trust is a strong predictor of self-reported giving and attitudes, even after accounting for socio-demographic characteristics. Analysis of open-ended responses suggests that alumni develop (dis)trust based on public discourse on higher education and their personal perceptions and observations of their alma maters’ institutional policies and spending. Conclusions/Recommendations Trust is granted by individuals to others and to institutions. However, institutions cannot take trust for granted. Institutions of higher education must continually earn the trust of their constituents through creating transparent practices and educating students and alumni about funding, assuring them that they have measures in place to track and implement donor wishes.