Predicting Fundraising Performance in International Schools

Abstract

This is a quantitative research study designed to understand internal and external variables that influence annual fund performance at international schools. The study examined 1365 international school websites for financial data and found a sample of 69 institutions that had annual fund giving data that were publicly available. These 69 annual funds giving levels became the dependent variable for the study. The researcher selected 18 independent variables to predict annual giving performance for each school based upon previous philanthropic research and personal intuition. These independent and dependent variables were then applied to linear, non-linear, and logarithmic regression models. The highest correlation value amongst the quantitative models was the non-linear regression model with an R2 value of 0.848. This non-linear quantitative model is highly correlated with annual fundraising levels. This model allowed for the highest predictive level to understand which institutions overperformed and underperformed. The levels of financial transparency, geographic origin, and linear correlation with singular independent variables all were parts of the analysis in this research study. The external findings of this study demonstrated that there was a positive association of annual fund occurrence for international schools located in countries with high Human Development Index, Economic Freedom Index, and economic/historical connection with the United States.