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[barred_owl]

Are there grants which do depend on the faculty contribution rate?  Examples?

(Or are we all trusting the OP's admin?)

We hear this every year at our August faculty meeting.  There are funding sources that are tied to the participation rate of the employees.  It may be just one of the criteria, but they do use it somewhere.

Are we talking about private organizations? I can't imagine NSF, ONR, DOE or any of my usual targets is looking at faculty participation in donations to determine if they'll give me a grant.

My guess is that, if there are grants dependent on evidence of faculty/university donation, they are probably from charitable foundations or trusts that will request a financial statement from the uni. as part of the organization's funding criteria.  So, for instance, if the university is looking to add a new wing to the library but their is no budget for it (and, if a state uni., there is no money in the state budget for it), the president may approach a local/regional philanthropic organization for help; in exchange, the organization may need to see 'evidence' that the university can, with the support of the entire university community, contribute a portion of the cost of the new wing.  Purely hypothetical example, of course.

[physicalchemist]

First  - thanks to everyone who has replied so far.  The responses are very interesting and thought-provoking.  Despite my gripes, I am leaning more toward a one-time donation of $25 to the scholarship in honor of my colleague.

Second - I am very curious about whether there is any real evidence that donors put a lot of weight on the percentage of faculty/staff contributions.  The replies seem to be mixed on this issue, and most responders sound like they are guessing.  If I knew that donors didn't really pay that much attention to the issue, I'd move back to a state of reluctance mostly because I have a long list of other organizations that my wife and I give to each year and that we consider more worthy of our money.

Third - I apologize for posting in two places.  I didn't realize it was in bad form, but realize now that it wasn't a very good idea.  For those who are interested there are some great replies (although fewer than here) as well in the other thread (On the Money).

Thanks again for the responses.  I'm hoping this thread can generate a lot more conversation on the topic of whether faculty should be asked to donate to their college.

[physicalchemist]

I apologize for posting in two places.  I didn't realize it was in bad form, but realize now that it wasn't a very good idea.  For those who are interested there are some great replies (quite a few more than in this thread) in my identical post in "Meet and Greet."

I hope this will continue to generate good conversation about the issue of whether faculty should donate to their college.  I still haven't decided what I'll do.

[southerntransplant]

Are there grants which do depend on the faculty contribution rate?  Examples?

(Or are we all trusting the OP's admin?)

We hear this every year at our August faculty meeting.  There are funding sources that are tied to the participation rate of the employees.  It may be just one of the criteria, but they do use it somewhere.

Are we talking about private organizations? I can't imagine NSF, ONR, DOE or any of my usual targets is looking at faculty participation in donations to determine if they'll give me a grant.

My guess is that, if there are grants dependent on evidence of faculty/university donation, they are probably from charitable foundations or trusts that will request a financial statement from the uni. as part of the organization's funding criteria.  So, for instance, if the university is looking to add a new wing to the library but their is no budget for it (and, if a state uni., there is no money in the state budget for it), the president may approach a local/regional philanthropic organization for help; in exchange, the organization may need to see 'evidence' that the university can, with the support of the entire university community, contribute a portion of the cost of the new wing.  Purely hypothetical example, of course.

In that context, that's sensible. We don't get much in the way of pressure here to donate to the university, not yet anyway...

[barred_owl]

Thinking back on it now, when I worked at a non-profit last year, I wrote a successful grant in support of a new program initiative.  During the application process, the foundation from which we requested the money asked to see the non-profit's financial statement, including the non-profit's revenue from donations, both monetary and in-kind.  That's a slightly different context than the university setting, of course, but I think the principle is still the same.

[daniel_von_flanagan]

I donate, but to earmarked funds (our library, the student radio station, and my department also has a fund).  There are several situations where a high faculty participation rate is a useful datum to have. - DvF

I'm genuinely clueless - what situations are these? I understand percentage of alumni giving but percentage of faculty giving?

The fight for public goodwill during contract negotiations.  "Management is trying to portray this as purely financial issue on the part of a greedy, entitled faculty.  However, the faculty love this University, as evidenced by the fact that they donate to it at twice the rate of senior administration." - DvF

[fizmath]

Should the homeless donate money for homeless shelters?  The donations to the school end up primarily as salaries for staff.  It is like contributing to your own salary. 

I give a token donation only because they will harass us until we give.  They like to claim 100% faculty participation.  If I came across an inheritance from a long lost uncle then any money I give will not be to a general fund but to some specific program or scholarship.

[sibyl]

Thanks again for the responses.  I'm hoping this thread can generate a lot more conversation on the topic of whether faculty should be asked to donate to their college.

I'm one of those who posted on the other thread, so I won't repeat it here.  But I believe they can and should be asked.  Whether they should reply with donations is another matter, but it's not an affront or insult to be asked; I think (with Tip O'Neill) that it's always nice to be asked. 

Are there grants which do depend on the faculty contribution rate?  Examples? 

No, there really are some private foundations where this makes a difference; I saw it when I worked more closely with development.  I just can't find them now.  But there aren't that many.

I'm curious to know whether or not forumites' universities also circulate United Way solicitations, too, in addition to the requests for donation straight to the institution.  United Way circulars were sent out to everyone at both of the places I worked and, in some ways, there was an implied pressure from "on high" that we contribute.

One of my previous employers did send United Way solicitations.  Since the college was one of the three largest employers in town, United Way always recruited a high-ranking college official to its board (along with high-ranking officials from the other large employers), and we were asked to give.  The college always had a very high contribution rate - largely, I think, because of the nonfaculty employees - and it helped the college a lot when it came to saying, See, we support the local community.  The United Way was also the town's most active rainmaker for donations.

But that was in a small town.  In larger communities, I would guess, there's a sense that there are plenty of other philanthropic approaches.

[mad_doctor]

At the currency exchange, the strips of flesh they peel off my back are worth at least a few thousand dollars each.

It used to be safe to donate to the endowment, but these days the endowments have become more and more appropriated for building funds, executive travel and expense funds, and various other self-indulgent purposes.

[msmicrobe]

I'm with Clean.  If you can't count yourself as a member of the community, why should outsiders care?  If you can't find something, somewhere on campus to which you can give a minimal gift, isn't it time to look for new work--or another line of work?

So the only "giving" that counts is money? No other way of supporting the academic community counts?

And the idea of using the percentage of faculty who donate money to determine whether or not the faculty support the university seems flawed on so many levels. Let's say I get pressure to give and I cave, giving $1. How does that  accurately reflect my commitment to the University or the students going there? That somehow counts more in the bean counter's piles than the fact I spend my weekends answering student questions via email? 

I just don't see why the University feels entitled to a portion of my paycheck and uses it as a measure of my commitment to them. Looking at that same paycheck, I have to say I don't always see their commitment to me. But that doesn't mean they aren't committed to keeping me. They do other things, in other ways.

[michigander]

There is another factor to take into account.  At some schools it can be detrimental to one's career not to donate.  We're a tiny school, and we're told that donors don't like it when a small school's own employees don't donate to it, so the powers that be want to be able to report a high rate of employee giving.  Ask around to find out what would be the wise course where you are.  My very small annual contribution is enough for the necessary mental check mark to appear next to my name for the powerful people who care about such things.  Because of the pressure, they are able to report a 100% donation rate for employees and are perfectly happy that quite a few of the donations are very small because we don't get paid that well.

[normative_]

If I were going to donate, I would wait until later in life and endow a stipend. I doubt it could be big, but I'd be more likely to specify it go to someone in one of my disciplines (scholarships aren't as plentiful as they are elsewhere).

 

[clean]

Should the homeless donate money for homeless shelters?  The donations to the school end up primarily as salaries for staff.  It is like contributing to your own salary.

I disagree with Fizmath entirely.  First we are not the users of the education system, we are cogs in the works.  Asking EMPLOYEES of the homeless shelter is a more appropriate analogy, not users.  IF the employees of the homeless shelter did not contribute, what would that say to an outside potential donor?  IF an employee could not see and appreciate the need, then why should an outsider?
 
Surely you can contribute donations to scholarships.  These donations do not end up primarily as salaries to staff, unless you argue that by allowing a student to purchase education that their tuition dollars are returned to you as salary.  If that is the case, then you are right.  You are helping to pay your salary and the student gets to benefit, but that is a secondary effect, not a primary effect.

Again, this CAN be a 'small order of small' issue.  Again, I can only speak of what we do here, but a one time contribution of $5 is all that they ask of us each year.  THEN they match that donation from outside funds.  So IF you have something that benefits you, a specific scholarship, the library, something else, then why not support it and double the contribution?

I am really surprised at how mercenary many of the replies seem to be.  I expected that it would be the Business faculty that were jaded, but from what I can see, and from what I experienced with my own colleagues who help create a $30,000 scholarship (after the matching contributions) when my best friend and coworker died in January, we are a pretty generous group.

[undisciplined]

As a non-TT faculty member, I have always found these requests annoyingly hypocritical. To date, I have not given. (I have given earmarked gifts to a former grad school program.) My thinking: I will invest in the institution when the institution invests in me.

[sibyl]

I am really surprised at how mercenary many of the replies seem to be. 

I am not surprised, because I think this is another illustration of the dichotomy between "business" values and "school" values in the university.  We all complain mightily (and rightly) that a student in a classroom is not a "customer" entitled to some kind of "service" from the faculty.  On the other hand, the student is certainly entitled to a certain level of customer service in, say, the dining hall, the health services office, the career services office, and the financial aid office.  To the student, sometimes the university is a business and sometimes it's a school.

As faculty, we don't expect to be treated as though we fit in the command-and-control structures of most "businesses," nor do we expect to be judged by profit-like metrics of "productivity."  For that matter, we also expect correctly to be involved in the direction of the university through governance; faculty speak more loudly about the direction of their company than do employees of for-profit businesses.  We expect tenurability, research support, and library and equipment funds, which are human-capital investments made by few businesses.  At the same time, we do expect the university to perform correctly "business" functions like deducting the correct amount of taxes from our paychecks and enforcing workplace safety regulations.  Again, for faculty, sometimes it's a business and sometimes it's a school.

When the university solicits donations, it is acting as a nonprofit charitable organization -- i.e. in accordance with "school" values.  Most schools routinely ask community members for donations; surely it makes sense to reach out to those who educate students every day and thus see the benefits of school up close.  This thread's most passionate opponents of giving are making their argument by treating the university according to "business" values -- i.e. as an employer which provides insufficient compensation.  (It is true that the other main prong of the opposition to giving seems to be "I won't give because I don't agree with the direction or management of the organization", which is a "school" argument.)

It's difficult to negotiate the boundaries of the school/business dichotomy, precisely because the applicable values change from issue to issue.  We just need to recognize that the dichotomy is at work here too.