Correspondence: Shelley Strickland, 2117 School of Education Building, The University of Michigan, 610 E. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1259, USA. E-mail: srstric@umich.edu

¹is a Doctoral Candidate at the University of Michigan (U-M). Shelley has over a decade of experience in university advancement. Immediately before entering U-M as a doctoral student in higher education, she worked in the central development office of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, as a director of special projects – efforts ranging from benchmarking studies, to research and data analysis, to training of staff and faculty – after serving as a major gifts officer at Emory. Before this, she served as a director of alumni and foundation relations at Kennesaw State University, where she secured the first endowed chair for the School of Education, established a successful annual arts gala for student scholarships and created an alumni program for MBA students.

Received 12 November 2008; Revised 12 November 2008.

Abstract

This paper explores the Kalamazoo Promise through the lens of the existing literature on other privately funded scholarships programs and the broader advancement knowledge base. The author concludes that current research does not adequately explain the Promise, and suggests a conceptual model ––a logic model – to be used in philanthropy evaluation.