<p>My alma mater is one of the well-off ones and I give every year. Every five or ten years I give a little more, but its not a super large amount.</p>
<p>I think the speaking fee stuff is crooked…especialy the recently publicized ones. My guess is that either the university is fibbing about where the money came from (ouside donors to a foundation), or the arrangement is a technically illegal one where a donor gives what amounts to a political contribution funneled through a 501c3 targeted to a specific speaker fee. I have no proof of this, just speculation. But I doubt the IRS will be looking into it. </p>
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<p>There’s no guarantee, as many donors will confirm. Paying full price doesn’t even count for much in today’s world. </p>
<p>Yes, I donate a token amount annually to register that I am a very happy alum, and I want to be counted in those numbers. Because the school is so rich, I do not consider it charity, even though it is tax-deductible. My charity donations go elsewhere.</p>
<p>@Pizzagirl Haha! It’s my D’s favorite meme. She set up the account for me. If someone on social media says something gross, or gives too much information, she replies by posting this picture. It’s just some random person. She doesn’t know who he is.</p>
<p>I have a sneaking suspicion that the speaking fee that initiated the OP’s inquiry was for a possible future presidential candidate. I don’t mind that famous folks require a fee to speak to young people, but I do oppose public servants accepting fees from public institutions in their home states. Years ago Governor Douglas Wilder maintained a very reasonable policy of giving speeches at a wide variety of venues, but never charging to speak before crowds at public/civic-oriented organizations in his home state of Virginia.</p>
<p>My philosophy with “giving back” is that your school did a service to you which benefited you greatly, the least you can do is give back. Not giving anymore because others are giving more than you will be is focusing on the wrong thing, in my opinion. </p>
<p>I give a token amount each year to my alma mater to help boost the percentage of alums who donate. I appreciate my education very much, but the school (a well known LAC) has become something so different from when I graduated in 1972 - being everything to all students, seeking (and receiving) high rankings in US News and World Report, annual costs of $60K, that I hardly recognize it or know whether I support that mission or not. </p>
<p>Niquii, my school did me a service, if and only if, the advantages I gained from going there exceeded the tuition and other costs I paid to go there. </p>
<p>McDonald’s provides a service as well, but I sure as shooting will not be donating to them. :)</p>
<p>S1 is on a full-ride, so I expect that he or we will donate to his school. I paid for every bit of my college with zero financial aid despite the fact that my family was poor. We were jus too ignorant to know money was out there for the getting. I would consider endowing a scholarship for merit, but I am not going to pay a school again for services rendered.</p>
<p>Cannot edit for some reason…my first sentence was very disjointed. I paid for the service from the college. If and only if my benefit from those services exceeded the payments I made would I consider donating. I have much more worthy charities that can use my money.</p>
<p>That is fine for you, Torveaux. I was just taught differently. I was taught to give and give back. If I could not afford to at the moment, I would make sure to give when I am able to. </p>
<p>I will be giving back to my school after I graduate. Monetary gains and losses aside, they have given me many unique experiences and opportunities than I could’ve imagined and for that I will give back. </p>
<p>"My philosophy with “giving back” is that your school did a service to you which benefited you greatly, the least you can do is give back. "</p>
<p>I think my school gave me a lot, but when I’m full-pay for my son – nope, I’m not giving them any more beyond that. $60K a year is enough, tyvm. And that’s what I say when I get called for donations. </p>
<p>My H gives because he was the recipient of generous aid and he’s grateful for it and feels he should pay it forward. I have no strong feeling about my Big 10 flagship or my experience there and don’t give. I give to other groups. My kids give to their schools–neither received aid but they both had great experiences and give to scholarship funds.</p>
<p>Yeah, I totally understand your guys’ reasons: full pay and standard experience. I’ve had anything but the standard experience and I am far from full pay. I will give and support in ways that I can. </p>
<p>I used to give, but not any more. The university from which I graduated has changed much of its educational philosophy - it used to be proud of its reputation for being a “good value” (that is, a great education for a reasonable price). Several presidents later, it professed that it no longer wanted to be known for being a bargain and hiked its tuition/room and board substantially. Yes, I know EVERY college has increased tuition and fees, but I find this attitude - and yes, they actually said this aloud, in print - to be offensive, especially to middle class families.</p>
<p>Yes, it’s still a good school with a great faculty, but I have better places to spend my charity dollars. </p>
<p>I stopped donating to UMD when they started making terrible decisions within their athletic department. I figured, if they can make decisions that will cost the athletic department millions, then they don’t need my money to help bail them out.</p>
<p>I give some to mine, but my H is extremely generous to his LAC. His total would be in 6 figures by the time he’s done.
And no, my kids weren’t interested in attending his LAC.</p>