Winning and giving: Football results and alumni giving at selective private colleges and universities

Objective. Our central question is how changes in an institution's football success affect giving behavior. Also, we consider whether former varsity a thletes are more or less sensitive in their giving behavior than other alum ni to the competitive success of their school and whether such effects diff er by type of institution. Methods. Using micro data from 15 academically s elective private colleges and universities, the analysis presents fixed-eff ects estimates of how football winning percentages affect giving behavior. Results. General giving rates are unaffected by won-lost records at the hig h-profile Division IA schools and at the Ivy League schools. Increases in w inning percentages yield modest positive increases in giving rates, particu larly among former atheletes, at the lower-profile Division III liberal art s colleges. Conclusions. Mile there is a modest positive effect at Division III colleges, our results do not support the notion that winning and givin g go hand-in-hand at the selective private universities that play big-time football.