University fund raisers are finding that more and more donors, in particular those who give very large sums of money, wish to give anonymously, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Over the past 20 months, colleges have received more than $725-million in large gifts from anonymous donors. Among the most notable was a $100-million gift to support scholarships at Washington and Lee University.

Donors often wish to remain anonymous because they fear for their safety if people find out about their wealth or they want to protect their privacy. Some donors hope to focus news-media attention on the gift and the institution rather than the donor.

But fund raisers say it is hard to get much attention for a gift not connected to a donor. Says Robert W. Groves, associate vice president for development at the University of Michigan: “You lose a very exciting and rewarding human-interest side to the announcement.”

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