Philanthropy in higher education: exploring the affective dimensions of partnership work

Philanthropic partnerships are playing an increasingly prominent role in the agendas of higher education institutions. As universities seek external support to fund student equity initiatives and research, attention to how these partnerships are enacted has become critical. This paper draws on affect theory to examine the experiences of academic and professional staff involved in the operationalisation of philanthropic partnerships in Australia. While participants valued the impact of philanthropy on beneficiaries, they also described the emotional, relational, and organisational strains of this work. Our findings suggest that philanthropic partnership work is governed by formal structures and the affective expectations that shape how staff perform and sustain this work. We argue that as university and philanthropy engagements increase, affect opens up institutional space to reimagine how universities conceptualise, manage, and value the relational labour underpinning philanthropic work. This paper contributes a critical perspective on how philanthropic partnerships function within university workforces.