Philanthropic Investments and Strategic Approaches to Intermediary Funding in Higher Education

• In Event: The Politics and Landscapes of Philanthropic Involvement in Pre-K–20 Education

Abstract

A burgeoning area of research is documenting the role of funders in higher education policy involvement. Yet, there is little work exploring the strategic differences between foundations in higher education, especially when engaging with intermediary grantees and universities and colleges. Using a dataset from 10 of the largest foundations in higher education, an original coding scheme, and semi-structured interviews, this analysis finds that major funders are more likely to provide support to intermediary organizations (entities that are not colleges or universities) when investing in advocacy, policy, and college completion grant purposes. However, there are still strategic differences among major foundations when investing in intermediary grantees.

Author

• Nabih Haddad, Harvard University