According to its historical profile, Oklahoma City Community College can trace its conceptualization to the late 1960s. The wording of the survey items was slightly modified to suit the purpose of this study. Only 169 of the responses were complete enough to be included in the dataset exported from Qualtrics.
The topic of the focus group was the discussion of OCCC's leadership, philanthropy and culture. This allowed me to provide a more comprehensive picture of the current state of philanthropy at OCCC. The digital survey was distributed to each of the students' OCCC email addresses using the college's official email messaging system, by the Division of Student Affairs, coordinated through the Office of Advancement.
The gatekeeper for the focus group participants was the director of the Students Connecting with Mentors for Success program at OCCC. One of the limitations of focus group data is that it will be difficult to generalize due to the small participation rate. There were 19 questions in the survey asking students to reflect on their perception of the College.
According to the survey results, students had a very positive opinion of their experience at OCCC, but reported lower levels of agreement with the statement "I plan to give money to this college after graduation." It doesn't matter if it's the president, or the vice president of this, or the dean of that, if you get in, they'll never stop you. One of the other students surveyed had a particularly strong opinion about the college's decision to move from 16-week to 8-week courses.
We wrote a resolution and presented it to them to change the name of the entire organization and the. These statements show that students are very committed to OCCC because of the way the college has worked to serve them throughout their matriculation. However, many of the student respondents indicated that they were often not in a financial position to donate to the college while they were students.
This is consistent with the literature that cites income disparities as one of the reasons that community college students find it more difficult to give financially after graduation. This shows that there may not be a lack of will on the part of the students, but. It became very clear during the course of the focus group that students were not aware that they should think about how to support college programs and initiatives by donating.
For most of the students in the focus group, donations were something that was collected for special occasions or initiatives and were not part of the college's ongoing financial strategy.
TEMS OF IMPORT ANCE
OCCC has not done an effective job as it relates to communicating the importance of philanthropy to its students. President Steward talked about it at his PACT meeting this morning, he said he has a new group and if you pay a $10,000 donation it becomes an endowment so it's there forever like Kayla Fessler. Are you in the right network or the right community because sometimes an engineer, you don't think to give back.
They do a lot for us here and tell us so before we graduate, before we go out the door. The part of this respondent's statement that was most important was the idea that he did not know that people "donate no time". At this event, students are paired with those who have donated as part of this stewardship recognition.
This is a critical issue when it comes to student philanthropy at OCCC because students will continue to withhold financial gifts if they do not know the university needs them to thrive. OCCC must work diligently to help students as well as other stakeholders understand that donations are an integral part of the institution's financial strategy. I think when you realize that every person you come in contact with as an administrator or a professor or anyone involved with OCCC, that person is going to graduate and go on to do something and they can have the resources in the future, but if they don't remember a single person who ever talked to them and made them feel like they mattered, but if at OCCC you don't talk to the students and make sure you do.
Even if students were not aware of the important nature of philanthropy and fundraising, they were aware of the importance of having a positive relationship with the college. This student interviewee was making an important point in the social exchange framework—the idea that OCCC needed to make students feel valued in order to make them want to give back to the college after graduation.
Implications for Intervention
According to Olberding (2011), students who participated in student philanthropy programs are more likely to participate in giving efforts as alumni. They are also more likely to volunteer on behalf of the institution and serve on nonprofit boards. At LSU, they keep students engaged in the work of philanthropy through the creation of the LSU Student Philanthropy Council (LSU SPC).
In the spring of 2020, the LSU SPC worked with the Office of Advancement to raise a total of $2,978.95 in the senior gift campaign. North-West University also has a Student Philanthropy Council (SPC) which is responsible for educating its undergraduate students on the importance of philanthropy with the aim of inspiring them to become lifelong donors to the institution. The SPCA is responsible for creating student-focused fundraising programs on behalf of the Office of Alumni Affairs.
It will be important that OCCC can quantify the impact of their student philanthropy initiatives. The Student Philanthropy Committee at Sarah Lawrence College is a group of students who serve as ambassadors for The Fund for Sarah Lawrence. Committee members are expected to raise awareness of the role of fundraising at Sarah Lawrence College, build a culture of philanthropy and giving among students, and keep students informed of current fundraising efforts at the university.
Claflin began a student philanthropy program in 2006 that includes philanthropy training, an ambassador program, community service projects and participation in university fundraising initiatives. Students will become more aware of the role that philanthropy and fundraising play in the sustainability of OCCC. I have been giving my money to OCCC and I have seen an increase in the areas my money supports.
Providing a platform that allows those responsible for fundraising to connect with students and properly educate them about the structure of the university, the annual campaigns and the need to give back to ensure financial sustainability will pay dividends. Faculty and staff are often unaware of the importance of fundraising and the enormous structure of successful fundraising operations. The recommended intervention provides significant assistance to the Office of Advancement as students, faculty, and staff become champions and extensions of the Office of Advancement and Establishment.
CONCLUSION
Appendix A: IRB Notification
Appendix B: Mass Email to Students
Appendix C: Participant Information Sheet
Appendix D: Survey Instrument
I think giving money to non-profits and charities to support social causes is a good thing. The opinions of friends and family members will be important to me when deciding whether to give money to this college.
Appendix E: Focus Group Protocol
