How Is Alumni Giving Affected by Satisfactory Campus Experience? Analysis of an Industry-Research-Oriented University in China

Abstract

Alumni giving is an emerging funding source for industry-research-oriented universities in China, which show unstable and limited growth compared to their elite counterparts despite providing their alumni a satisfactory campus experience. Identifying the mechanisms whereby campus experience satisfaction results in steady alumni donation is essential for providing guidance on effective alumni relations practice in the Chinese context. Using structural equation modeling, this quantitative study surveyed 238 alumni of an industry-research-oriented university in China to explore the relationships among campus experience satisfaction, faculty-alumni contacts, trust in foundation, and alumni-giving intention. The results indicate that campus experience satisfaction is a significant predictor of the other three, while also indirectly affecting alumni donation willingness, which includes faculty-alumni contact and trust in foundation. It was also revealed that trust in foundation could be enhanced by strengthening contact between faculty and alumni. Theoretically, this study identifies and reveals the key determinants of increased alumni giving and their interactive mechanisms in the Chinese higher education ecosystem. For sustainability, suggestions for optimizing alumni relation practices are provided to university administrators and policymakers to advance higher education’s contribution to social and economic development.