An investigative study of predictive characteristics associated with alumni planned giving

This research attempted to develop a conceptual alumni planned (deferred) giving model based on demographic and attitudinal characteristics for public universities of higher education. A conceptual model would be linked to a computer model that could be used to screen groups of alumni to ascertain the presence of the requisite (combination of) demographic and/or attitudinal characteristics for making planned gifts. The two-phased study incorporated an abbreviated (three probes) Delphi technique in which planned giving officers at seventeen public universities participated as well as an alumni planned giving questionnaire administered to a census of alumni making planned gifts to The University of Tennessee, Knoxville and to a random sampling of University of Tennessee, Knoxville alumni aged forty years or more who had not made a planned gift. Analytical techniques included Chi-square, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and discriminant analysis. The results of analyses revealed six statistically significant (producing a squared canonical correlation of .48) variables predictive of planned giving at greater than .01 that correctly classified 81.2% of grouped cases. A conceptual model was recommended based on this exploratory research. It was concluded that there are numerous factors involved in identifying alumni planned giving prospects and none are perfect predictors. There are sufficient predictive characteristics with the aggregate capability of discriminating among alumni to recommend a conceptual model of alumni planned giving.