<p>Measuring the percentage of alumni giving is, for the most part, akin to measuring the solicitousness of a school’s alumni association. It is very easy for an alum to part with $10 or $20, if only to be left alone. Many schools have fundraising campaigns which revolve around doing such tactics, for the sake of their USNWR rankings. These shenanigans do not demonstrate true school “loyalty” any more than dropping a dime in the Salvation Army coin bucket shows generosity and goodwill. In any event, “alumni loyalty” is too complicated a concept to be captured so conveniently by proxy with “percentage of alumni giving.” </p>
<p>Alumni giving per capita, while not a perfect measure by any means, shows that alums are willing and able to put their money where their mouth is. Bottomline, what really matters to a school anyways? The total amount of money raised.</p>