By the late 1940s, Columbia's financial position was somewhat precarious, and in 1948 the university drew up a 'development program' to raise some $200 million over the next six years.
[1] Paul H. Davis, in charge of fundraising initiatives at Columbia, formed Columbia Associates in 1949 with the goal of recruiting alumni and friends to get the development program underway; over the next couple of years it did this, sometimes with Eisenhower urging benefactors to join.
[2] Eisenhower had an image for Columbia Associates in which "men of circumstance" were given a "position of honor and respect in University life"; one such person that he tried to recruit, albeit unsuccessfully, was John D. Rockefeller Jr.[2] Eisenhower's favorite project during this time, The American Assembly, was officially announced at a luncheon of the Columbia Associates, and the associates were employed in fundraising efforts for it.
"[3] By 1959, this mission was being stated as "seek[ing], through counsel and cooperative effort, to contribute to the social and educational good of the community through Columbia University.
"[5] Erpf and Columbia Associates played a significant role in the financing and creation of the Columbia Lectures in International Studies,[6] an educational television series that began in 1962 on Metropolitan Broadcasting Corporation stations.