It’s no secret that Stanford has a massive operating budget. According to the Stanford Management Company, the University’s endowment hovers around $18 billion. That figure makes us seem less like a ‘Farm’ and more like an empire. In fact, adjusted for inflation, Stanford’s annual operating budget exceeds that of the Roman Empire at the height of its glory. Disagreements about the proper investment and usage of those funds have fueled many campus controversies, and in the midst of the political fracas that can ensue about where the money goes, it is easy to overlook the processes that bring the money in. Stanford has an excellent program of fund stewardship; through postcards, letters, and thank-you notes, administrators create relationships with sponsors who could just as easily become anonymous checkbooks.

Many students at Stanford are familiar with the process of churning out hand-written notes to thank sponsors who have helped fund a student group, paid for a remarkable opportunity or footed the bill of a scholarship fund. Although these letter s can seem tedious or unwarranted, students on sports teams, in study abroad programs and in all sorts of other situations are told time and time again how much sponsors cherish them.

From a student perspective, financial aid can seem like a machine wrapped in enigma. However, a brief encounter with Mary Morrison, the Director of Funds Management at the Financial Aid Office, reveals that despite managing huge spreadsheets, this woman remembers the names, and often the stories, of the students she works for. Although it can be easy to take the sinister stance that all this amounts to the use of student labor to grow The Stanford Fund, coming face to face with sponsors and administrators alike reminds us of the incredible privilege it is to have the opportunities that are available to us at Stanford. It reminds us of the monetary funds and human labor that goes into making our daily experiences possible and instills a necessary shot of reality and respect.

Palm trees don’t grow out of nowhere and neither do the incredible opportunities that we have for international travel and individual research. Allowing students to briefly step out of our worlds and take a reflective glance at the larger systems at work in making it possible is a responsible and commendable exercise.

To speak more broadly, we live in an increasingly affluent society. Philanthropy, and all of the potential that comes with it for non-participatory self-congratulatory giving is a fact of that society. While there are those who would maintain that any philanthropy is better than none, poorly directed money can lead to dangerous back-patting for barely bandaging a gaping wound that continues to exist in society. When relationships aren’t built, money tossed at non-profit institutions becomes an easy way to establish benevolence, justify wealth, and assuage discomfort over social inequalities. Promoting responsible philanthropy may not seem like the hottest of political and social issues. But, by demanding that the exchange of money have a personal touch to it, the individuals who orchestrate the stewardship programs at Stanford try to inject humanity into the exchange of large sums of money, and there is value in that exercise.