<p>Recently learned that our (public) alma mater paid a major amount (shocking, to me) as a speakers fee to one individual. With 2 in college, we don’t have that much to spare for charitable giving to the ol’ alma mater, but I’m feeling that if they are so flush that they can afford expensive speakers they don’t need my itty bitty contributions. I like to imagine our hard-earned funds going to help people learn to read, get a hot meal on a freezing night, or other such things.</p>
<p>What about it? Those of you who attended schools with BIG endowments - do you give them even more? What is your rationale?</p>
<p>I give go my alma mater because low income families deserve a chance at success. Vanderbilt means 100% of need, and part of that is due to my small monthly donations, which are a noble $200. I’ve been donating for about 10 years now.</p>
<p>I donate to my alma mater and have done so annually since I got my first job. I restrict my donations to my major department which is small, and doesn’t get a lot of donations. I know they can use my donations.</p>
<p>To the OP…if you really want to, I bet you can also designate your donation to a specific thing. </p>
<p>But to be honest, I think speaker money isn’t a bad expenditure.</p>
<p>I donate to my high school since it’s still all girls and I have boys, no one is going to profit from it. I got a terrific education, I believe in single sex schools being available, and I support scholarships. I give to my college too - though heaven knows they don’t need my money! </p>
<p>I don’t give to the wealthy grad school university, but I do consistently give to the little undergrad college that is more needy, and dear to my heart, imho. </p>
<p>We donate to our D2’s alma mater in our field as a protest to our alma mater after killing cuts in our field. We know nobody notices our “Take that, you $5000 that you might have had” but it makes us feel better.</p>
<p>It is good to keep your options, just in case one of your offsprings should decide, “Ahh, I want to ED there.” Of course, donating isn’t the only way to stay involved.</p>
<p>I don’t donate to the school per se, but I donate to a memorial scholarship which was established to honor the memory of my long term boyfriend, who died tragically at the end of senior year. The scholarship is designed to help deserving pre-med students with financial need. </p>
<p>DH went to MIT with the help if scholarship money donated by alums and he is doing the same for future students. (He has also donated to benefit on of his favorite ECs.) (I went to a state school and have no great affection for it or my program.)</p>
<p>One thing I recently found out when my daughter received one was that her school has Alum scholarships. I think most are small, ours is $2000, but they are funded through the alumni association and given directly to one or more students. We were required to send a thank you not to the alum directly. I think this is a great way to give, it definitely goes to a student in need and not to the general fund, and you get personal knowledge that your gift is being spent as you desired. We didn’t apply directly to the scholarship, so the school is still deciding who gets them, but it still has a personal touch.</p>
<p>When you direct money go to a department, unless it is a huge amount, usually that same amount gets reduced from the department budget. It’s like giving to United Way. Although you can direct that you want your $1000 to go to the girl scouts, the scouts don’t get any addition to the amount they would have received anyway, unless your gift is more than they were scheduled to get. Say the scouts were to get $50k from United Way this year, but you give $500. They don’t get $50,500. If you donate $60k and direct it to the girl scouts, they would get that entire $60k, but not the original $50k. If all the other people donating to the United Way also directed their donations to the girl scouts, then yes, the scouts would get all the money.</p>