Increased use of private funds to support public higher education is essential, but private funding undoubtedly shapes the university in ways that challenge academic traditions, creating a new paradigm for financing the modern university. In this chapter, the author describes the three sources of funding for higher education: (1) tuition and fees; (2) grants, particularly for sponsored research; and (3) funds raised through charitable donations. The third source of funding is the author's focus because fundraising has become the "sine qua non" for all public universities. However, his is a cautionary tale about the essential need to secure private funding for public higher education. The author begins the tale with the benefits of extramural funding, but he ends with painful realities about the limits of fundraising and possible implications for the academy as a whole when private money becomes critical to maintain public higher education.