Now, in a vastly different place than it was ten years ago, MSU has confirmed to The State News that, "in the coming months," it's planning to publicly launch another fundraising campaign, looking to donor support at a pivotal point in the university’s history. 

"There's much to be proud of and more we aspire to achieve together with our Spartan community and friends of the university," said Kim Tobin, the vice president of university advancement, in a statement to The State News. "Stay tuned for a bold campaign that intends to help Spartans solve the grand challenges of our time and prepare our students for the opportunities of today and the future."

It's unclear just yet what impact the years of institutional turbulence will have on MSU’s upcoming fundraising push. But, one group of researchers has found that "bad press" tends to have negligible impacts on alumni donations at universities. And, one prominent MSU donor says the university can likely count on the loyalty of its most ardent supporters, in spite of the last decade’s rockiness.

"I do think that the people who are likely donors do believe in the mission and the function of the university," said James Billman, an MSU alumni, longtime donor to the university, and namesake to the College of Music’s Billman Music Pavilion.

While the Nassar scandal, presidential turnover and board infighting have been "detrimental" to MSU, and "there have been bad people and people who’ve done their jobs poorly," Billman said donors recognize "that doesn't mean that there’s something wrong with the 50,000 students, or the thousands of faculty and staff."

Also unclear at this juncture is exactly what the money MSU raises through its capital campaign will be put toward.

Universities often launch the campaigns for specific purposes, like the construction of new facilities and creation of new endowed professorships. In other cases, goals of fundraising campaigns are loftier and less clearly defined.

Take the University of Michigan for example, which launched in October its "Look to Michigan" capital campaign with a goal of $7 billion, the largest in the school's history. It aims to help UM "live out its mission of serving the public good by making an impact in four areas where Michigan is uniquely positioned to impact global challenges." Those areas are "Life changing education," "Health and well-being," "Democracy, civic and global engagement," and "Sustainability and climate action."

Still, a recent report from controversial consulting giant McKinsey and Company — commissioned by President Kevin Guskiewicz last spring for guidance on his administration's priorities — offers some insight into the things MSU might be considering funding with the money it brings in.

Specifically, McKinsey suggested MSU use "Capital Campaign" funds to fund new tuition affordability and student retention initiatives.

Will people give?

While the scale of turmoil at MSU in recent years might make now seem like an inopportune time to solicit donations en masse, one group of researchers has found largely insignificant impacts on university outcomes as a result of bad press.

In their 2019 paper "Any press is good press?" researchers Jason Lindo, David Marcotte, Jane Palmer and Isaac Swensen looked specifically at the effect that federal Title IX investigations of universities have on several outcomes, pertinently including alumni donations. (The study was published in the Economics of Education Review.)

The relationship they observed is particularly applicable to MSU today: As MSU prepares for its fundraising push, it’s under seven different federal investigations of its handling of Title IX.

But that might not necessarily hinder alumni donations in the upcoming fundraising campaign.

The researchers found that universities under federal investigations actually received donations from alumni at a higher average rate than those that weren’t. Moreover, universities under federal investigations also tended to solicit donations from alumni at a slightly higher rate compared with other universities.

"The negative attention associated with an investigation may influence changes to internal mechanisms at the university, but does not seem to impact external engagement with the institution," the researchers wrote.

That dynamic, the researchers suggest, may be explained by the concept of "salience" — the idea that news coverage of a university, even if critical in nature, might increase the likelihood that the university "comes to mind" when alumni are deciding where to donate their money.

Lindo, one of the researchers who is a professor of economics at Georgia Institute of Technology, cautioned, though, that his research was aimed at "documenting average effects" across universities, and doesn't necessarily account for unique circumstances at specific universities.

"The particulars of any given school or any given event could make its effect very different that average," he said in an email to The State News.

Institutional turbulence and press attention notwithstanding, Billman, the MSU alumni and donor, said MSU is wise to solicit alumni donations now, at a time when he said wealthy donors are likely to feel confident in the strength of the economy and stock market.

That provides "a good environment for raising money," Billman said in an email to The State News.

"You might think about the recent election advertising and attack ads, broadly criticizing any incumbent for the poor economy, high inflation, and high interest rates," he said. "However, in a higher ed fundraising campaign, (approximately) 90% of the money comes from 10% of the donors, and those top donors probably think the economy and the market are good if not great."

What might the money be for?

Because MSU hasn’t yet publicly launched the capital campaign, details on what exactly the university intends to fund with the money it raises are unclear.

But there are some clues in a report from the controversial consulting giant Mckinsey and Company, which was commissioned by Guskiewicz last spring for guidance on his administration’s priorities. 

Specifically, Mckinsey recommended a new "signature initiative" to Guskiewicz called "Spartans Thrive," which would aim to increase MSU’s graduation and retention rates, which are lagging behind several of its Big Ten peers.

The firm noted that graduation and retention rates among "underrepresented students" are disproportionately lower than that of "non-underrepresented students." To bring MSU on pace with other institutions, Mckinsey argued, the university would have to narrow in on addressing the disparities in graduation and retention rates among students of different racial backgrounds. 

How should MSU address that issue?

"Launch 'Spartans for Spartans' fundraising campaign to fund retention efforts (e.g. mental health resourcing, bridging loans) with a focus on closing the 13 p.p. gap in 6-year graduation outcomes between underrepresented and non-underrepresented students," McKinsey wrote in its report, which was obtained by The State News through a public records request.

Elsewhere in its report, McKinsey makes reference to an "affordability initiative in the Capital Campaign," recommending that MSU "Raise money to fund major financial aid push so no Michigan student leaves MSU for financial reasons."