This study examines the fundraising leadership of Reverend Robert Swanson, President of Alma College from 1956 to 1980, and the fundraising strategies he used on behalf of this small Presbyterian College. An aging and insufficient infrastructure, unsteady enrollments, a disjointed curriculum, and diminishing fiscal support from the Presbyterian Church had converged to create an urgent financial situation for the institution. Swanson's fundraising in the first decade of his presidency illuminates a little-documented period in the history of Alma College and a turbulent time for America's independent colleges. More important, this study reveals how Swanson's thoughtful understanding of the campus and public context allowed him to leverage strongly held public opinions related to federal aid policy in his fundraising. It further reveals how the Christian liberal arts curriculum Swanson espoused for Alma reflected curricular debates of the day and was used as a catalyst to secure continued support from the Presbyterian Church.

This study uses elements of biography, institutional history, and fundraising literature to reveal how Swanson leveraged his vision for a Christian, liberal arts curriculum and public opinions about federal aid to higher education to raise funds on behalf of the college. Private denominational colleges were uniquely challenged by the changing political and religious climate in postwar America. Political conservatives feared government funding would lead to government control and the end of America's independent college system. At the same time, as the American culture became more secularized, church colleges wondered if their founding denominations would continue to meaningfully support their colleges.

Primary and secondary documents from the Alma College archive, public portions of Advancement and Alumni records, funding agency records, and media sources were used to inform this study. This example of an institutional leader, who used a keen awareness of the context of his campus and the broader society, can inform future fundraising leadership efforts and suggests important skills for presidential leaders to develop and hone. It also addresses a gap in the philanthropic literature related to higher education through its examination of a president at a prevalent, though still under-researched institution type-the small, regionally-recognized, liberal arts institution.