Development/fund raising

The days when alumni eagerly turned to "class notes" sections of alumni magazines to find out about their old friends seem quaint in the era of Facebook. So the question for alumni magazines becomes: How do they stay relevant?

NEW YORK -- Gatherings of fund raisers, alumni affairs leaders, and communications experts in higher education have for years, one panelist here said, engaged in “hand-wringing about social media.” Should they get involved? Do they need to take it seriously? What is its role?

NEW YORK -- What do you do, asked a fund raiser in the audience, when a prospective donor from Asia asks how much he has to give to get an honorary degree?

From a scan of the room here at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, it appeared that some were horrified that the question was asked and others were unfazed. (Not coincidentally, the audience was a mix of those who already have ambitious fund raising goals abroad and those hoping to start them.)

The House investigation of Rep. Charles Rangel has focused in part on whether the congressman broke ethics rules while raising funds for a public service center at the City College of New York, but the panel’s recent report also suggests college officials were working hand-in-glove with Rangel as he solicited money from companies known to have business interests before a committee he chaired.

A long-established position within academe now requires amorphous blend of fund-raising prowess, big picture thinking, budget savvy and entrepreneurship.

New York Times now treats research universities as news commentators, not news makers, say Illinois researchers.

New book says elite colleges -- public and private -- have continued alumni admissions preferences even though they favor the wealthy and white -- and the favoritism isn’t needed for donations.

Maine's community college system creates a statewide foundation to garner private donations; it has already raised more than $6 million.

Contributions to colleges increased by 0.5% in 2010, a negligible gain but much better than 2009's 12% drop. Alumni participation rate continued to fall.

Louisiana Supreme Court rejects challenge to Tulane's merger of arts and sciences college with former women's college, ending long legal dispute watched by many fund-raisers.