Genevieve Shaker
Associate Professor of Philanthropic Studies; Adjunct Professor of Liberal Arts and of Gender and Sexuality StudiesLilly Family School of Philanthropy
ude[dot]iupui[at]rekahsg
Enhancing fundraising practice through research and education
My dedication to research that informs the practitioner community aligns with IUPUI’s emphasis on translating research to practice. Over the last five years, one of my research foci has been on developing and disseminating new research about fundraising and about the fundraising profession. I have conducted several studies, including two about fundraiser job tenure and turnover that have generated knowledge about fundraisers themselves. This work is in alignment with growing attention in the nonprofit scholarly community to the role that fundraisers play in giving processes. Most often, scholars and the public alike focus on donors and the amount of money given without adequate consideration of the intermediary. I have a special interest in higher education giving and fundraising. I have conducted several studies in this setting, including a large longitudinal study of giving across 30 years and 400+institutions as well as an examination of the philanthropic relationships of fundraisers and major donors in university settings. My goal is to strategically share what I have learned through my research--as well as the insights of other scholars--with the practice community to address emerging social economic, and technological issues. I do this in a variety of ways especially by addressing my writing, respectively, to scholars, practitioners, policy leaders, and the general public, in addition to presenting at professional association conferences and teaching for The Fund Raising School. In 2021 and 2022, I also published two books which translate research to practice. The first, "Fundraising for Faculty and Academic Leaders (Palgrave)," was co-authored with Aaron Conley and provides a research-based approach for leading advancement teams within the university. The second, "Achieving Excellence in Fundraising (5th edition, Wiley)," features 39 chapters written by Lilly Family School faculty, alumni, and affiliates and is the most recent edition of the best selling fundraising textbook. I was the lead editor for the volume and saw an important part of my role to be bringing as much research as possible into the text.