'Laurence Lee is the sort of alumnus that the University of Chicago craves, with two degrees from the school and plenty of money that he is looking to give away. But when Chicago solicits Mr. Lee for donations, he says he thinks to himself, "What do they need me for? What difference can I make when they already have billions?"

Instead of contributing much to Chicago, where he earned bachelor's and law degrees, Mr. Lee, who is retired, gave $6.6 million to a school he never attended: Lake Forest College, a small liberal-arts school located in the Chicago suburb where he lives. Its endowment is about $75 million, just over 1% of University of Chicago's $6.1 billion. Mr. Lee says he hasn't totaled the amount he has given to Chicago over the years but describes it as "a modest annual gift for the hell of it."


... Mr. Lee is among a rising cohort of philanthropists who are eschewing their richly endowed alma maters in favor of schools with meager resources. Turned off by massive endowments at the nation's top schools, they seek to make a greater impact at less-wealthy institutions. They are probably also aware of a fringe benefit: getting your name on a building is a cheaper proposition at schools not accustomed to seven-figure donations.

... Colleges with modest endowments are stepping up their pitch to nonalumni who graduated from more moneyed schools. Steven D. Schutt, president of Lake Forest, says he tells potential donors, "Your return on investment is going to be greater here than at places like Harvard or Yale. A million dollars gets lost in an endowment of three or five or $10 billion." Mr. Schutt was formerly a vice president at the University of Pennsylvania, which has a $6.4 billion endowment.



Last week, Harvard University announced that its endowment, by far the largest in higher education, had grown to $34.9 billion last fiscal year. The Cambridge, Mass., university, which is continuing to solicit donations, says it needs the resources to ensure future growth and to support operating expenses at its 14 schools.

But Harvard is aware that some potential donors may question the university's claim it still needs financial gifts. [Clearly, these money-wise millionaires are asking tough questions. Does a university with 34.9 billion dollars need more? Hm.... Hm...] Materials distributed to Harvard's fund-raising volunteers include a response to the question, "Does Harvard really need more money with such a large endowment?" The suggested answer begins, "Yes." It goes on to note that much of the university's endowment carries spending restrictions, and that some parts of the university, including information technology, have "little or no existing endowment" and require alumni donations to meet annual expenses. [Oh, okay, well here's my $2,000 annual giving! Don't spend it all in one place!]



... Some [schools], including Cleveland State University in Ohio and the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky., have begun giving potential donors copies of a July opinion piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education that made the case for more parity in donations.

"When your alma mater is already fabulously wealthy, it is advisable, indeed wise, to shun your sentimental attachment to the institution and adopt other institutions that can yield better returns," wrote Steve O. Michael, a professor of higher-education administration at Ohio's Kent State University. In an interview, he said that data show schools with smaller endowments are more efficient in their use of resources.



... Mr. Lee, who made his fortune as the top attorney for Abbott Laboratories, based in Abbott Park, Ill., says his emotional ties to the University of Chicago waned as it amassed "its fancy endowment," which has tripled in the past decade. The school is at the tail end of a $2 billion capital campaign. A spokesman for Chicago wouldn't respond to Mr. Lee's comments.' [What can they say? I guess they can try Harvard's tack -- We really need the money, man...]