Fundraising can be distilled into one word: relationships. Relationships with faculty. Relationships with staff. Relationships with alumni. Relationships with the community. And perhaps the most important relationship for a fundraiser—a donor.

The most carefully cultivated, authentic relationships can lead to major and principal gifts, gifts that benefit students in ways that reverberate for generations. Strong relationships based on aligning a donor’s needs, interests, and concerns with meaningful impact inspire donors to become advocates for your institution. These are donors who are part of your community, who attend athletic events and performances, who encourage others to give, who send their children to your institution, who become spokespersons for your initiatives, and who believe in your institution’s mission.  

Such meaningful relationships are crucial in resource development efforts for higher education institutions—arguably now more than ever. Philanthropy has shaped U.S. higher education since the founding of the country’s earliest colleges and universities and served as an added source of flexible revenue. Today, though, colleges and universities are increasingly relying on institutional advancement to address budget shortfalls, declining enrollment, and increased needs for resources. 

Gifts at the principal and major levels can almost always be attributed to long-standing relationships with the university or a particular cause or interest. For instance, the largest philanthropic gift bestowed to date in 2024, and one of the largest gifts ever to a medical school, made headlines in March. A $1 billion gift from Ruth Gottesman to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, U.S., will ensure free tuition to all students. Gottesman is a former professor and current board chair who has been deeply involved with the institution for many years.  

In donor and institution relationships, it’s vital that donors see not only the impact of their monetary investment but also, and perhaps more important, the value of their advocacy for the institution. To support donors as advocates, development staff members have to understand donors’ motivations and expectations.

We’ve seen that firsthand through our partnership at Utah Valley University, U.S.—Alan as a philanthropist and Christie as an advancement leader. We came together as co-authors to offer our perspectives on the donor-fundraiser relationship, which we believe can and should be meaningful, authentic, and rewarding for both parties.