Undergraduates as Prospective Alumni: A New Framework for the Study and Practice of Alumni Philanthropy

• In Event: Student Affairs, Students, and Administrative Leadership

Abstract

In an ongoing era of decreasing state and federal funding for higher education, this paper uses resource dependency and organizational identity theory to argue that alumni represent a critical resource for higher education institutions, but that the development of their organizational identity as alumni, and therefore their identity as prospective donors, begins at matriculation. This paper proposes a new model of alumni identity development and advocates for using this in practice by expanding partnerships between student affairs and alumni professionals.

Author

• Stephanie G Wapner, The Ohio State University - Columbus