Real impact of high dollar donations

[Periwinkle]

I looked at my Kindle copy. OK, I found the section. First, it talks about how Bates increased the “philanthropic culture” at the college, starting in the late 70s. Golden writes:

Eager to place as many graduates as possible at top institutions, prep school counselors help colleges identify development admits, often through an unobtrusive phrase or two in a letter of recommendation stating that the parents have been generous to the prep school and are likely to give to their child’s college as well. The prep school’s fundraising office may call the college to reinforce the message.

In return, colleges often tip off prep schools in advance about which students they intend to take.

And,

How much does it cost to buy your child’s way into college? Educational consultants say a five-figure donation–as low as $20,000–is enough to draw the attention of a liberal arts college with an endowment in the hundreds of millions. At an exclusive college, it can take at least $50,000 with some assurance that future donations will be even greater. At top-25 universities, a minimum of $100,000 is required; for the top 10, at least $250,000 and often seven figures.

It’s considered crass for wealthy parents to approach college officials directly with a financial proposal while their child is applying…Parents have better luck negotiating through intermediaries–the prep school’s development head, a friend on the university board of trustees, or an independent college counselor.

The book was first published in 2006. No idea what the 2016 figures might be.

Bates is really hot right now. It didn’t catch my attention, because back in the day, when I was in high school, it was a fine, small liberal arts college–but not really “hot.” If the college followed this tactic, it worked for them. It also worked for Brown and Duke (which I did remember from reading the book.)

One of the children of the wealthy singled out for attention is Jared Kushner. http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-jared-kushner-trump-card/