Kresge Foundation’s Efforts to Build Strong Development Offices at Historically Black Colleges

Changing the Odds: Lessons Learned From the Kresge HBCU Initiative, by Billie Sue Schulze, provides the results of a Kresge Foundation program aimed at helping small colleges establish or improve their development offices. Five historically black colleges and universities — Bethune-Cookman College, Dillard University, Johnson C. Smith University, Meharry Medical College, and Xavier University — received grants, assistance, guidance, and training in raising money from private sources. By the end of the effort, all the institutions had significantly improved the amount they raised annually. Chapters use these colleges’ experiences as examples to illustrate lessons, such as how to connect with alumni and how to build a planned-giving program. Each chapter concludes with tables, worksheets, tips, and suggestions of useful resources.

Publisher: Kresge Foundation, 3215 West Big Beaver Road, Troy, Mich. 48084; (248) 643-9630; fax (248) 643-0588; info@kresge.org; http://www.kresge.org; 194 pages; available free for download on the organization’s Web site; ISBN 0-9776465-0-5.