"from the schools' point of view, individual gifts are literally worthless" What the schools want is for alumni to always be giving. Not dissimilar from ventu

"from the schools' point of view, individual gifts are literally worthless" What the schools want is for alumni to always be giving. Not dissimilar from venture funding, they really care about the tiny fraction of alumni who hit it big, and give tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. It's easier to get the few rich alumni to give if everyone's in the habit of giving.