Correspondence: David J. Weerts, Department of Educational Leadership Florida Atlantic University 777 Glades Road Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA. Tel: (561) 297-3370; Fax: (561) 297-3618; E-mail: dweerts@fau.edu

¹is Assistant Professor of Higher Education at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida and faculty affiliate at the Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education (WISCAPE), University of Wisconsin-Madison.

²is Research Associate at the Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education (WISCAPE), University of Wisconsin-Madison and doctoral student in the Department of Statistics at UW-Madison.

Received 13 March 2007; Revised 13 March 2007.

Abstract

In the competitive marketplace of higher education, college and university alumni are increasingly called on to support their institutions in multiple ways: political advocacy, volunteerism, and charitable giving. Drawing on alumni survey data gathered from a large research extensive university, we employ a multinomial logistic regression model to distinguish characteristics of inactive alumni from those who give, volunteer, or give and volunteer at their alma mater. Economic, social exchange, expectancy, and investment theories shed light on lifecycles, attitudes, and lifestyles associated with alumni giving and voluntary support for higher education.