Fundraising as a Financing Strategy in Modern Post-Communist European Entrepreneurial Higher Education Institutions – Case of Croatia

Private education is a rapidly growing market in Croatia, while in the United States; this kind of ownership is a traditional concept of education. The diversity of ownership structures and difference from public funding, have created new models of fundraising for quality work. One of them is funding, which for decades has been one of the sources of funds in the successful operation of private higher education institutions (HEI) around the world. As the fundraising relates mainly to funding of the schools themselves, its development has lead to the development of the very strategies of funding its use. With regard to the development of fundraising, there are several models of fundraising strategies that include a variety of communication channels for the development of fundraising activities. Strategies are those that are extremely important for the successful implementation of unduly and successful fundraising projects, and so fundraising strategy plays an important role for the fast-growing market of private higher education. This paper is focused on general HEI financing possibilities and fundraising as one of its possibilities. It also focuses on standard fundraising strategies and models developed within private U.S. HEI, its advantages and disadvantages.