Institutional Advancement and Development

Institutional advancement is a division of a college or university that is charged with fundraising and alumni engagement strategies. Often, but not always, institutional advancement includes offices of communications, marketing, and public and government relations. Within these divisions, advancement, at its core, is viewed as the means of both building awareness and gaining support from all constituencies.

At the center of advancement is the fundraising or development process. Development is viewed as the strategic process by which institutions identify, cultivate, solicit, recognize, and steward prospective donors. The development process seeks to establish and nurture relationships with the ultimate goal of raising funds for the institution.

Fundraising has been part of American higher education since the founding of Harvard in 1636. However, in the beginning, fundraising was not ...