The future fiscal integrity of small, 2-year public colleges may be jeopardized by a lack of effective fund-raising, which will be needed to supplement and help offset declining public support for higher education, and by the failure of institutions to integrate fund-raising goals and strategies into institutional strategic planning. This exploratory study used surveys and follow-up interviews to evaluate fund-raising at 31 small, 2-year public colleges to determine what methods and circumstances are most likely to result in an institution enjoying positive and sustainable revenues as a direct result of fund-raising efforts. The study explored how institutions determine fund-raising goals and isolated how methods and circumstances can vary depending upon institutional size, geographic location, and so on. The researcher conducted a case study of an Ohio technical public college to compare and contrast fund-raising practices with 2 other similar 2-year public institutions to develop and demonstrate the application of theory. The researcher developed a fund-raising model to use as a basis for prediction and additional research.

Foundations should hire permanent and ideally full-time leadership. Leaders who believe their institutions are too small to have full-time foundation leadership should consider options like an alumni association. One of the most important implications of the study is the need for all institutional foundations to refine their methodology with respect to tracking costs to raise a dollar through fund-raising. In sum, fund-raising effectiveness is based on permanent foundation leadership, operational funding discussions during strategic-planning sessions, fund-raising objectives based on assessment of needs, and evaluation of cost and outcomes against pre-established goals.