<p>I used to attend a college that had a program with a nearby university that would put on symposiums every year. I really enjoyed the symposiums when I was younger and I really feel they made a lasting impression on me both academically and personally. I would like to make a donation to support their program.</p>
<p>Their webpage asks all donations to be handled directly through one of their members. In other words, I can’t just paypal them $50 and call it done. They ask for different types of donations including event specific grants, sustaining the endowment, endowed chair, and individual gifts. I’m not sure what kind of donation I would be making. I suppose I should just email the member in charge and say that I’d like to make a donation based on my personal enrichment from the program, specifically from one professor who was extremely involved.</p>
<p>Now the appropriate question: What is an appropriate donation? This is a very small program, but of course, it is an actual program, so I’m assuming that personally emailing the director to donate less than $100 is a waste of time. Would $1000-2000 be acceptable?</p>
<p>Just because you cannot endow a professorship does not mean a smaller donation is not welcomed. Any amount you give will be appreciated. Even the $100 one. An e- mail would be appropriate and you could simply ask where to send the check</p>
<p>We recently got a publication from one of our alma maters and it listed donors who had consistently given money through the years. We are not huge donors, but we write a check year after year after year. Every bit helps.</p>
<p>Wow, that is quite a generous donation. Any gift you wish to give is just that - a gift. If I understand correctly, you are wanting to donate to this specific symposium and not to the college or department in general. It is possible (and this is purely speculation) that there may be some tax reason why they want it handled in a particular way. Commonly there are options to select a specific program or activity to support, and it sounds like they are listing several for you to earmark your donation towards. If you want to give $100, write a check, send it to the head of the program and indicate for which of their targeted list items you would like to support. Don’t feel compelled to give more than you are comfortable or able. Keep in mind that they will likely be placing your name on a list for future donations, so if you plan to give again, or more, keep that in mind.</p>
<p>It looks like you are making an individual gift to that symposium program (gifts to the endowment are restricted in use and must be managed by the school, so typically there is a six-figure minimum on an endowment gift; likewise, an endowed professorship is usually north of $2M). A gift of any size is always appreciated, but schools have differing ways of handling directed gifts, so you are probably best off calling them.</p>
<p>Sorry if my OP sounded silly, but I’ve never made a donation. And after a quick search on CC, all I could find were threads on donations of buildings and other things in the 7 figures…I wasn’t sure if a grand would be considered too low. And since this is a very small program at a non prestigious public university, I also wasn’t sure if they were only used to very small donations, and a 4 figure donation would seem too big. </p>
<p>I’m definitely planning on writing this off on my taxes, which is part of the reason why it is somewhat large (for my income, at least). I’d also like to include it on my application to transfer to show I am dedicated to my major and community…but I’m not sure how exactly to put that without seeming as though I am trying to buy my way into the school, even though the program I’d like to donate to is not a part of the school I am applying to.</p>
<p>1) Don’t give $1000-2000. They would be grateful for $250.</p>
<p>2) Why are they asking you to send through one member? Are you going to get a tax-deductible statement from the university? You’d better. Make sure this isn’t a scam.</p>
<p>I think it’s great that you feel strongly about this program and want to support it financially. Send a letter with a check to the the executive director and tell him/her why you’re supporting the organization. It’s not a waste of time–non-profit organizations love to get letters/donations like yours, especially if this is a small organization. They might even use your comments in future fundraising efforts. As for amount–do what’s comfortable for you. A donation of $100-$250 sounds like an amount with which you are comfortable. Go for it.</p>