| Summary: | <p> Resource dependence has been evidenced among private HBCUs that obtain as much as 90% of operating revenue from tuition and fees. Without alternative funding strategies in place, small declines in enrollment can lead to a major budget crisis. The basic premise of this exploratory inquiry was that fundraising represents an opportunity that has been successfully utilized by many large, predominantly White institutions, but ineffectively by most private HBCUs. Focusing on five private HBCUs in the southeastern United States, this exploratory study investigated the challenges development and fundraising leaders from these institutions have experienced and strategies they have implemented to mitigate these challenges. Three themes emerged from the interviews with the five fundraising leaders: (a) lack of access to wealth, (b) understaffing with inadequate stewardship, and (c) church resource dependence. What was evident from the findings was the usefulness of fundraising dollars in helping the institutions meet critical needs, such as keeping student tuition affordable, providing students with scholarships to fill in gaps between the financial aid they receive and the cost of tuition and fees, and conducting much-needed campus maintenance and repairs. However, though the institutions made strides toward measured fundraising successes, the results revealed that these private tuition-dependent HBCUs were still challenged with securing funds above and beyond the basic fiscal needs of the day-to-day operation of the institutions. In short, the identified fundraising successes paled in comparison to the fundraising successes of many large, predominately White institutions and equated to little more than crisis fundraising typical among HBCUs.</p><p>
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