Presidential transitions during capital campaigns

Abstract

In the past few decades, capital campaigns at institutions of higher education have increased in duration, while collegiate presidential tenures have been doing just the opposite. Turnover in the top post was frequent, even during major fundraising campaigns. Before this study, presidential transitions during campaigns had not been previously analyzed. Therefore, the objective of this exploratory study was to better understand presidential transitions during capital campaigns from the perspective of the chief development officer (CDO) who maintained continuity. Nine CDOs, who experienced presidential transitions during campaigns were interviewed to better understand their experience. The strategies for dealing with a presidential transition during a campaign included (a) providing input in the selection of the new president; (b) communication with constituency; (c) education of the incoming president; (d) involving the new president in the campaign right away; and (e) creating new funding priorities. Recommendations for a CDO dealing with a change in leadership during a campaign have been outlined in this paper.