Date of Award

5-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership

Department

Educational Leadership

First Reader/Committee Chair

Dr. Viktor Wang

Abstract

Leadership in higher education fundraising represents one of the most relational and complex forms of organizational influence. Unlike traditional hierarchies, university advancement operates through networks of trust, reciprocity, and shared purpose; conditions that can challenge leadership models designed for positional authority. This qualitative, phenomenological study examined how advancement professionals experienced and integrated transactional and transformational leadership behaviors within relationship-driven systems, and how followership shaped the interpretation and uptake of leadership intent over time. Drawing on Social Exchange Theory (Blau, 1964), Augmentation Theory (Bass, 1985), and Followership Theory (Riggio, 2014), the study reconceptualized leadership as a co-created process grounded in relational exchange and addressed the limited explanatory power of the Full Range Leadership Model (FRLM) in advancement contexts where influence and reciprocity are central. Using semi-structured interviews with nine advancement professionals in a bounded, single-site community, participants reflected on lived experiences and engaged with an original conceptual framework (the Transactional–Transformational Integration Map) that was subsequently refined into a three-dimensional model incorporating transactional, transformational, and followership dimensions, conditioned by time and cadence. Findings indicated that effective advancement leadership emerged through integration rather than polarity: transactional stewardship (clarity, fairness, reliability) established the trust infrastructure that enabled transformational belonging (shared meaning, identity, and commitment). Followership agency functioned as an interpretive mechanism that translated leadership behaviors into sustained engagement or resistance. Five themes emerged: leadership as relational reciprocity; transactional stewardship as trust infrastructure; transformational belonging as a relational outcome; followership agency as interpretive bridge and reciprocal influence; and time as the condition through which transactional processes matured into “earned noninterference” (a relational form of non-control distinct from laissez-faire). This research contributes theoretically by refining FRLM for advancement through a time-conditioned, follower-centered integration model, methodologically by leveraging participant-guided conceptual mapping alongside interview analysis, and practically by offering implementable implications for building accountable, equitable, and adaptive advancement cultures.

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