Photo of a woman sitting with laptop

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ partners with CASE to support philanthropy at African Universities

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ has joined forces with the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), the world’s leading association for advancement and philanthropy in higher education, to examine the current state of philanthropic support for higher education in Africa.

The 12-month project, which is funded by an award from the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF), will build upon CASE’s 15 years of experience working with African universities and the extensive research in philanthropy and university funding conducted by º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ’s School of Social Sciences. The goal is to create a sustainable framework for building philanthropic engagement at higher education institutions in Africa.

This project addresses the urgent need for African universities to build and expand philanthropic activities to realize their institutional missions. Enrolment at African universities has risen dramatically from less than 400,000 students in 1970 to approximately 10 million students today.  At the same time, funding cuts by national governments have limited the ability of universities to meet the growing demand for higher education in Africa. 

To address this challenge, researchers in Geography from º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ and professional practitioners at CASE will work with a group of universities in East, West and South Africa to develop a suite of digital resources that address the specific needs of African universities and share best practice in higher education philanthropy on the African continent and across the world. These resources will be designed to support alumni relations activities, fundraising operations and communication strategies.

Michael Hoyler, Reader in Human Geography at º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ and one of the project leaders, said: “We are delighted to be working with CASE on this enterprise project to bring together its professional experience with our research on philanthropy in higher education.”

Tricia King, Vice President, Global Engagement at CASE, noted that CASE is pleased to be working in partnership with the institution to deliver this important work.

“Universities are vehicles for change in the world. In Africa, this is doubly so,” King said. “This work will give our African community exactly what they tell us they need – digital access to the best ideas and case studies about how to fundraise successfully.”

Liz Reilly, CASE’s Executive Director for Global Engagement, Emerging Markets, added: “In the long-term, CASE hopes the lessons learned from this research project will benefit not only African universities, but higher education institutions in Latin America, Asia and other regions of the world as well.”

Other members of the project team include Professor Morag Bell, Heidi Bloomfield, Dr. James Esson and Dr Amil Mohanan from the School of Social Sciences at º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ.

Notes for editors

Press release reference number: 18/93

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ CASE

CASE believes in advancing education to transform lives and society. As a global non-profit membership association, CASE helps develop the communities of professional practice that build institutional resilience and success in challenging times. The communities include staff engaged in alumni relations, fundraising, marketing, student recruitment, stakeholder engagement, crisis communications and government relations.

CASE has offices in Washington, D.C., London, Singapore and Mexico City. Member institutions include more than 3,700 colleges and universities, primary and secondary independent and international schools, and non-profit organizations in 82 countries. CASE serves nearly 88,000 practitioners. For more information about CASE, please visit www.case.org.

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ is one of the UK’s leading universities, with an international reputation across its academic disciplines for research that matters, excellence in teaching, and strong links with external organisations in business, industry and the professions.  The University has been awarded five stars in the global independent QS Stars university rating scheme. It is ranked in the top 10 of every UK national league table, and in recognition of its contribution to the higher education sector it has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes. The º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. 

For information about the University please visit: http://www.lboro.ac.uk

Categories