Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Fred Estes, Ed.D.

First Committee Member

Ted Leland, Ph.D.

Second Committee Member

Brett Taylor, Ed.D.

Abstract

Professional School Alumni Donor Motivations for Making Charitable Bequest Gifts to Their Alma Mater

Abstract

By James A. Dugoni

University of the Pacific 2025

This study explored the reasons University of the Pacific (UOP) professional school alumni in the fields of dentistry, law, and pharmacy have chosen to make charitable bequest gifts to their alma mater. The study looked at their student, alumni, and donor experiences to determine the factors that motivated them to leave a charitable bequest gift. The study further analyzed how social exchange theory can explain their planned giving behaviors. This study contributes to the body of applied and scholarly research conducted on bequest donor motivations. Previous research studies have examined living bequest donors to various nonprofits, including undergraduate alumni, but none have focused on professional school alumni. This study was important to me as a practitioner serving as a university gift officer, specializing in estate and gift planning, because the findings help to inform and improve my work and potentially the work of others in the field. This study employed a qualitative approach using Stake’s (1995) case study methodology, which is “the study of the particularity and complexity of a single case, coming to understand its activity within important circumstances” (p. xi). In this case, UOP and its donors were the subject matter. Professional school alumni with estate commitments to UOP were invited by email to participate in one-on-one interviews about their experiences as students, alumni, and donors to better understand their charitable bequest gift motivations. After a couple weeks, a second email was sent to encourage participation, and if needed, personal phone calls were made to increase the response rate. Findings were presented in the form of key takeaways and themes that became evident from analysis of the one-on-one interviews. Discussion, conclusions, and recommendations were then provided and include the following: charitable bequest donor motivations of professional school alumni were found to be the same or similar to those of previous studies examining undergraduate alumni with regard to altruistic and egoistic reasons. Also, for some of the participants, the results of earlier research were corroborated concerning the significance of organizational factors but not regarding estate tax considerations. The broader themes of family, pride, and gratitude emerged, and it was found that faculty played a significant role in the decision making of participant alumni to leave a charitable bequest gift to their professional school. Findings also suggest ways to better identify, market, and solicit estate gifts, and the importance of paying attention to constituents throughout their lifecycle with the university as students, alumni, and donors. Regarding social exchange theory, none of the participants gave bequest gifts to get recognition, but they expressed appreciation for receiving thank-you messages in person and in writing, and some stressed the importance of receiving annual endowment reports. These types of stewardship measures are necessary to help ensure bequest donors follow through on their revocable estate commitments.

Pages

141

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