A benefactor's business practices, involvement with political groups, or personal activities can bring protests and negative publicity to a college and raise ethical questions about accepting some donations. (Author/MSE)

Thirty-seven universities received half the money donated by foundations to higher education in 1989-90, and 40 institutions received half the corporate dollars donated, revealing the power of research universities to attract private monies. Some feel the concentration is neither rational nor fair. Tables present dollar and percentage figures for…

Public colleges have become aggressive and sophisticated fund-raisers and feel it is time the corporations notice that public institutions educate a large share of the corporate workforce and conduct research vital to business. At the same time, private colleges have had a decrease in corporate donations. (MSE)

The politically conservative John M. Olin Foundation, which provides financial grants to individuals and groups on U.S. campuses, has become part of the debate over "political correctness" in academia. The foundation is accused of being linked with the Republican Party and of distorting intellectual debate. (DB)

At many colleges, contributions are up in nearly all categories including: alumni gifts, corporate and foundation grants, and planned giving. While the market crash delivered a strong jolt to donor confidence, the 1986 Tax Reform Act has had more impact on giving. (MLW)

Donations to colleges and universities increased to about $9.8 billion in fiscal 1990, the second year of recovery from a drop in 1988. Accounting for inflation, overall giving grew 5 percent. However, economic downturn may cause some institutions to raise less this year than last. Alumni will likely increasingly underwrite costs. (MSE)

Sharply reduced tax benefits of some gifts of appreciated property, especially works of art, have college officials worried that their collections at campus museums and galleries will suffer. John Whitney Payson's decision to sell Van Gogh's "Irises," on loan to Westbrook College, is described. (MLW)

The American Indian College Fund has begun its first nationwide appeal for private donations, part of a 5-year effort to build a $10 million endowment for scholarships at 26 tribal colleges and to increase awareness of the colleges' existence. Foundations and corporations are responding. Sensitivity about the history and image of Indians has…

The intertwined fortunes of the Danforth Foundation and Washington University are discussed. The foundation has phased out its regular programs in higher education in favor of secondary education and regional projects, leaving for higher education only the Dorothy Danforth Compton Minority program and support of Washington University. (MLW)

An annual survey by the Council for Aid to Education of voluntary support for education is reported. The survey does not take into account the October 19 stock market crash, and several colleges indicate a slowdown in the flow of gifts since then. (MLW)

Ten years after a $105-million gift from a Coca-Cola magnate, the endowment's income is allowing Emory University to decide how and how much it wants to change, in contrast to the situation of other private research universities having to make hard fiscal choices. (MSE)

The Kresge Foundation is one of the few national foundations that give money only for construction and renovation at nonprofit organizations, a boon for colleges and universities with severe deferred maintenance problems. Recently, the foundation added a program to upgrade science equipment. Participating colleges must also raise funds. (MSE)

More than 90 percent of the American Association of University Women's Educational Foundation funds comes from the association's 150,000 members. Awards for graduate study, postdoctoral studies, and international fellowships are reported. (MLW)

Donations to education rose considerably higher than inflation last year, unlike giving in most other areas. Factors fueling a slowdown in giving include recession, a sluggish stock market, a slowed rate of increase in the population of Americans aged 35 to 64, and a declining rate in personal income growth. (MSE)

The charitable tax deduction has created a system in which the rich can choose to support institutions that perpetuate their own class, with little scrutiny by the general public or elected officials. Museums, libraries, orchestras, etc., receive more gifts than do programs that benefit the needy. (MLW)