I’m not @romanigypsyeyes, but an organization is different from a private donor who just throws $100 million at a developing nation to “end world hunger.” Part of the reason there IS hunger in developing nations are corrupt or inept officials and a lack of infrastructure. Sometimes the government just takes that aid and it never gets to the people. Sometimes they distribute it to their friends and supporters, the people who already have what they need. Sometimes they take it and ration it out to the people, using it as a carrot to get the people to do what they want. Sometimes the aid is appreciated and sits, unused, on a tarmac somewhere rotting because although all the food is bought there’s no way to deliver it to the folks who need it the most. There are hundreds of stories out there of exactly these things happening. And sometimes simply pumping money in harms or messes with the economy. These things have to be done with thought and care.
But this is all kind of moot because the topic question was “If you had $100 million to give to a school…” There are lots of worthy causes to give to and giving to a college is no more or less worthy than any of the charities listed above.
With that said, I’d give my $100 million to my alma mater, Spelman College. I’d give the majority of it as an unrestricted gift. Unrestricted gifts are important - they allow the college to apply your money to where it’s needed the most, and keep up with the changing nature of the educational landscape. A famous recent example is Sweet Briar; when they needed to stay open, they couldn’t use some of their funds to do things they needed because much of the money they had access to were restricted gifts given for some purpose. I know people don’t like the idea of their money going to pay administrators or keep the plumbing running, but those are necessary functions at any college. Even the money sitting in an endowment generates income for the college.
However, I would specify that a small percentage - maybe 10%, which is still $10 million - go towards endowing scholarships. Some scholarships would be full merit scholarships for first-generation college students at Spelman, and smaller scholarships would be designated for students who want to study abroad and need gap funding to cover the difference between their financial aid and the cost of the program. I’d let Spelman specify other criteria and select their own students.
In any case, I’d guess that’s why schools like Harvard and Yale get millions from donors. People have special attachments to their alma mater, and a school like Yale is much more likely to have alumni donors that can give millions than a school like Spelman.