Pam Russell
director of communications
CASE
+1-202-478-5680
russell@case.org

For Immediate Release
June 15, 2010

CASE Names Recipients of 2010 Research Awards

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Council for Advancement and Support of Education has named the winners of its 2010 Research Awards in Educational Advancement.

The annual awards recognize published books or articles and doctoral dissertations or master's theses in each of three categories: alumni relations, communications and marketing, and fundraising.

This year's winning entries feature compelling research on:

• Predictors of alumni association membership and the relationship between membership and alumni giving
• Political advocacy and volunteer behaviors of alumni
• The integrated marketing communication process model and whether it is practiced within institutions of higher learning in the United States
• Institutional fundraising and its impact on state support
• The impact of giving circles and the possible role that these voluntary, philanthropic associations can or should have in a democratic society

The honors are the H.S. Warwick Research Awards in Alumni Relations for Educational Advancement; the Alice L. Beeman Research Awards in Communications and Marketing for Educational Advancement; and the John Grenzebach Awards for Outstanding Research in Philanthropy for Educational Advancement.

The 2010 CASE Research Awards in Educational Advancement winners are:

Melissa Newman, associate director of membership, University of Kentucky. Newman is the recipient of the H.S. Warwick Research Award in Alumni Relations, Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation, for "Determinants of Alumni Membership in a Dues-Based Alumni Association," completed at the University of Louisville. Newman's research revealed that alumni association members tend to be older donors who are aware of other members and satisfied with their alumni association. The study also indicated that alumni association members are nearly five times more likely than nonmembers to be current donors and nearly 12 times more likely to be donors of at least $10,000.

David Weerts, assistant professor, University of Minnesota; Alberto Cabrera, professor, University of Maryland; Thomas Sanford, associate director of research, Tennessee Higher Education Commission. Weerts, Cabrera and Sanford are the recipients of the H.S. Warwick Research Award in Alumni Relations, Outstanding Published Scholarship, for "Beyond Giving: Political Advocacy and Volunteer Behaviors of Public University Alumni," published in Research in Higher Education. Their research identified several distinct and interrelated non-monetary support behaviors that alumni perform on behalf of their alma mater. Their work provides a foundation for creating more sophisticated instrumentation to profile alumni who are most likely to volunteer and advocate for higher education.

Sharee LeBlanc Broussard, assistant professor, Spring Hill College, Mobile, Ala. Broussard is the recipient of the Alice L. Beeman Research Award in Communications and Marketing, Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation, for "Source-Message-Receiver in Integrated Marketing Communication: A Study of U.S. Institutional Advancement," completed at the University of Southern Mississippi. Broussard's research found that the IMC model is practiced within advancement programs at all levels of institutions, from baccalaureate to doctoral, verifying that institutional advancement is an appropriate venue to study the model.

John L. Cox, vice president-finance, operations and government relations, Harford Community College, Bel Air, Md. Cox is the recipient of the John Grenzebach Award for Outstanding Research in Philanthropy, Doctoral Dissertation, for "The Relationship between Private Giving and State Funding among Maryland's Four-Year Public Institutions," completed at George Washington University. His research examined 13 cases based on 10 years of data from public institutions in Maryland. The findings indicated that new money raised outside of a university does not supplant state-based funds in Maryland.

Angela M. Eikenberry, assistant professor, University of Nebraska at Omaha. Eikenberry received the John Grenzebach Award for Outstanding Research in Philanthropy, Published Scholarship, for Giving Circles: Philanthropy, Voluntary Association and Democracy, published by Indiana University Press. The book provides original research on giving circles, an emerging philanthropic trend popular among women and other diverse groups and used increasingly by university development programs to engage donors. The book gives an overview of the giving circle landscape and considers the impact and role these groups can or should play in a democratic society.

About CASE

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education is a professional association serving educational institutions and the advancement professionals who work on their behalf in alumni relations, communications, development, marketing and allied areas.

CASE was founded in 1974 and maintains headquarters in Washington, D.C., with offices in London (CASE Europe, 1994), Singapore (CASE Asia-Pacific, 2007) and Mexico City (CASE América Latina, 2011).

Today, CASE’s membership includes more than 3,600 colleges and universities, primary and secondary independent and international schools, and nonprofit organizations in 76 countries around the globe. This makes CASE one of the world’s largest nonprofit educational associations in terms of institutional membership. CASE serves more than 70,000 advancement professionals on the staffs of its member institutions and has more than 17,000 professional members on its roster.

To fulfill their missions and to meet both individual and societal needs, colleges, universities and independent schools rely on—and therefore must foster—the good will, active involvement, informed advocacy and enduring support of alumni, donors, prospective students, parents, government officials, community leaders, corporate executives, foundation officers and other external constituencies.

CASE helps its members build stronger relationships with all of these constituencies by providing relevant research, supporting growth in the profession and fostering support of education. CASE also offers a variety of advancement products and services, provides standards and an ethical framework for the profession and works with other organizations to respond to public issues of concern while promoting the importance of education worldwide.

###