Mystery in university donations

The Daily Texan has the short story:

Source of huge scholarship donations remains secret

DES MOINES, Iowa — A mystery is unfolding in the world of college fundraising: During the past few weeks, at least eight universities have received gifts totaling nearly $45 million, and the schools had to promise not to try to find out the giver’s identity.

One school went so far as to check with the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security just to make sure a $1.5 million gift didn’t come from illegal sources.

The gifts ranged from $8 million at Purdue to $1.5 million donated to the University of North Carolina at Asheville. The University of Iowa received $7 million; the University of Southern Mississippi, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the University of Maryland at College Park got $6 million each; the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs was given $5.5 million.

The Chronicle of Higher Education has the same story:

Million-Dollar Mystery: Anonymous Donors Even the Colleges Don’t Know

In college fund raising, anonymous donors typically aren’t truly anonymous. Someone on campus — the president, or a top fund raiser who worked with the donor — knows the identity of the person who gave the gift.

But in the last few weeks, that truism has changed for at least nine colleges. Those lucky institutions have received gifts totaling more than $45-million from donors who don’t want to reveal their identity at all, the Associated Press reported.

The colleges learned of the donations through lawyers or other middlemen, and received the money in cashier’s checks or checks from a law firm. Some institutions, including the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, had to sign a confidentiality agreement saying they would not try to find out who the secret donors were.