from the schools' point of view, individual gifts are literally worthless A huge motivator for getting people to donate any amount at all is college rankings.

from the schools' point of view, individual gifts are literally worthless A huge motivator for getting people to donate any amount at all is college rankings. The US News and World Report takes into account the "average alumni giving rate"[0] as a factor in their rankings. Since high rankings in turn drive admissions, staying as high up in the rankings as possible is hugely important for most colleges and universities (and "elite" schools most of all). I'm a senior at a school that generally ranks pretty highly (Wesleyan University) and I hear this brought up quite a lot in the context of donations. They don't care if you only donate a dollar, but they want you to donate something. [0] http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/best-colleges/2010/08/17/methodology-undergraduate-ranking-criteria-and-weights-2011.html http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/best-colleges/2010/...