Fund-Raising Activities at Colleges and Universities in the United States

Abstract

Library directors were surveyed at 600 randomly selected colleges and universities, proportionally stratified by Carnegie Foundation type, and classified as being baccalaureate granting colleges or above. Usable responses were received from 517 institutions, or 86.1% of the libraries in the sample.

This paper summarizes information detailing which types of fund raising activities are most successful, how fund raising income is utilized by academic libraries, how fund raising efforts are organized and staffed, what role friends of the library groups play in fund raising initiatives, how fund raising is related to levels of support from the parent institution, and why some libraries choose not to engage in fund raising.