Why Should Alumni Give to Institutions With Large Endowments?

On the eve of her 25th reunion, Carroll Bogert, a member of the Harvard class of 1983, is questioning why she and other alumni should continue to donate to a university with a $35-billion endowment when most of that money is invested rather than spent.

Ms. Bogert, the associate director of Human Rights Watch, makes her case for reexamining giving to weathy universities in an opinion piece in The New York Times.

She and a few hundred fellow alumni have formed a group called Harvard Alumni for Social Action to channel 25th-year reunion giving to poor universities in Africa. In three years, they’ve raised $425,000.

Ms. Bogert says Drew Gilpin Faust, president of Harvard, begged off meeting with the group. “Harvard clearly doesn’t like any effort that might divert a dollar away from its Cambridge coffers,” she writes.

Her argument raises an interesting question: How do universities with the largest endowments make the case to skeptical alumni about why they need additional funds? And are alumni who want to change how their alma mater uses their money better off diverting the annual gift check to a needier cause?