A national ranking in a "Best Colleges" list, a president with long tenure, and board leadership in terms of giving are among the factors that help institutions of higher education attract gifts of at least $1 million, a report from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and Johnson Grossnickle and Associates finds.

Based on data from the 1,449 colleges and universities that received publicly announced million-dollar-plus gifts between 2000 and 2012 as reported in the Lilly School's Million Dollar List, as well as case studies and interviews, the report, Million-Dollar-Ready: Assessing the Institutional Factors that Lead to Major Gifts (50 pages, PDF), found that those institutions with long-serving presidents able to articulate a clear, compelling mission for their institution were more likely to attract big gifts. An increase in average giving by board members and/or alumni also was linked to an increase in the number of million-dollar gifts received.

The study also found that a national ranking in a "Best Colleges" list was associated with a 61 percent increase in the number of million-dollar gifts received and a 156 percent increase in the total value of those gifts between 2000 and 2012. In addition, institutions that were founded before 1900, doctoral degree-granting or research universities, liberal arts institutions, and those with larger endowments tended to receive a greater number of million-dollar gifts.

"Many studies look at the characteristics of major gift donors and their motivations for giving; we wanted to flip that on its head and assess what institutional factors are associated with receiving gifts of $1 million or more," said Angela White, senior consultant and CEO of Johnson Grossnickle and Associates. "There’s no magic formula for receiving large gifts, other than listening to and building positive relationships with donors over time. But this report reveals major themes that can help colleges and universities assess their own million-dollar-readiness and what they can do to improve their ability to attract large, transformational donations."