1990-91 alumni giving at U. breaks national college record

University alumni, which set the all-time record for the most graduates donating to their alma mater in a given year in 1988-89, broke that record last year during the 250th Anniversary celebration. The all-time record for total donations to a school was set two years ago with 76,024 of the University's 180,357 solicited alumni giving to some part of the University. Vice President for Development Rick Nahm said the number of donations went up even higher in 1990-91 to 81,048 after a slight dip in 1989-1990 to 73,680. The 1988-89 record was based on statistics reported to the Council for Aid to Education by most institutions in the country. The University of Michigan had the second highest number of donations in 1988-1989 with 64,004 of the 276,651 solicited alumni. Harvard and Ohio State Universities followed with 58,623 and 49,043 respectively. Nahm said there is no way to compare the University's figures from the last two years with other schools, because CFAE has not released those reports yet. But he said he is hopeful the most recent figure will set a new national record. The Director of Research at CFAE said yesterday he felt the number of total donors is a skewed figure because larger schools tend to have more donors because their pool of living alumni is bigger. But Nahm said yesterday he felt the number is important because it indicates alumni approval of the University and its programs. "We think it is clearly significant because that is a sign of the breadth of support for an institution by its alumni," Nahm said. "To me it is as important as any million dollar gift to know that we have such a wide base of support." "It is, in a sense, a vote of confidence," he added. "It shows a lot of engaged, involved alumni who are supportive of what is going on." Terry Holcombe, the vice president for development and alumni affairs at Yale University, said yesterday that about 45 percent of Yale's 115,000 living alumni donate each year. Yale, like the University, is broken into several colleges and divisions. Holcombe said Yale College, the division about half of Yale's students attend, has a higher percentage of donations than some other schools. These schools, which include divisions for art, architecture, drama, and divinity, are "schools where people don't go out and earn Wharton-type megabucks," Holcombe said. Holcombe said he thinks private schools and smaller schools have more donations because they provide "supportive, engaging environments." He added that all donations statistics are important because they give an institution different information about alumni support. The percentage of participants "should be stable and growing" and indicates broad scale support of an institution, Holcombe said. He also said the total amount of money is important because it can show the depth of alumni commitment to their alma mater. Officials at Harvard could not be reached and officials at Michigan declined to comment.

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