The Shifting Role of Higher Education Philanthropy: A Network Analysis of Philanthropic Policy Strategies

Newer foundations have ushered in a novel approach to higher education philanthropy, which many observers call “advocacy philanthropy.” Have older, more traditional foundations also shifted toward advocacy? Drawing on longitudinal data, social network analysis, and semi-structured interviews, this paper investigates the extent of advocacy philanthropy among four major higher education funders—the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Lumina Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and the Kresge Foundation. We examine over 4,000 grants directed toward higher education from 2003 to 2012, representing over $3.5 billion. We find that older funders, like Kellogg and Kresge, have adopted some of the advocacy strategies brought in by the newer foundations, like Gates and Lumina, and that all four funders have increasingly funded the same grantees over time. However, there are still some strategic differences between older and newer foundations in higher education.