FUNDRAISING FOR UNIVERSITIES

In many countries of the world universities suffer from a lack of adequate financing. More and more governments have difficulty in providing sufficient funding to institutions of higher education. It is becoming obvious that dependence of universities on a single financial source, namely government grants, is becoming an ever greater problem.

Higher education institutions need to look for additional sources of funding and to establish a mix of financial revenues. In many countries, it is customary to collect tuition fees from students. In North America public as well as private universities carry out professional fundraising which successfully addresses individuals and companies. In fact, twenty institutions of higher education in the United States annually raise more than $200 million each.

The 17th International Conference on Higher Education (I.C.H.E.), to be held in Luxembourg, will attempt to contribute to narrowing the gap between professional fundraising in the United States and the relatively amateur fundraising carried out in Europe and many other parts of the world. The Conference will be a forum of minds to exchange views and experience:

- How can universities create a positive fundraising climate?

- How can an institution of higher education convince private persons and companies to support that institution and its projects?

- What personal and financial investments are necessary to organize a successful fundraising campaign?

The participants in the Conference are invited to present their views and relate their experiences in contributed papers.