MOLI VIEW™

Holiday season? For the mega wealthy, this is write-off season — time to reduce those tax bills by sending out tax-deductible checks to charitable organizations before the year ends. Of course, the savvy mega rich have already mapped out their gifts well in advance of the holidays. And if you had $10 million or more burning a whole in your pocket this year, chances are good you handed it out to your alma mater or another institution of higher education close to your heart.

Here's the take for higher education, according to Mega-Gifts in American Philanthropy, a study released yesterday by the Institute for Jewish and Community Research:

• Higher education is by far the largest recipient of mega-gifts, taking in 37 percent of all gifts and 44 percent of all dollars.
• For gifts of $10 million or more, higher education received an even larger share, with 46 percent of gifts and 47 percent of dollars.
• For the 110 gifts of $50 million or more, higher education received 58 percent of gifts and 50 percent of dollars.

Yet for all the money coming in, tuition keeps outpacing inflation. Some elite schools are showing some mercy, offering more scholarships and grants to more students in all but the nosebleed income brackets.

That's a good thing, because the families of needy students are going to have a hard time helping them out. As Mega-Gifts points out, social services and general education receive only a tenth of the big-money donations that higher education does.

Celeste Fraser Delgado is the MOLI View's contributing editor for Worthy Causes.

» Read Celeste's blog