For example, instead of demanding a plausible 7 percent annual return, the donor might specify an 80 percent return in the first year of the trust's life.

Yet many donors have specified that their gifts are to be used only for direct victims - the same people who will benefit from the new fund.

The donor would specify the party that is to receive the contribution and the clearinghouse would make the contribution.

Today's announcement states that such scholarships would be permitted if a donor of the money specified that it was to be set aside for minority students.

He also points to the United Jewish Appeal's program that allows donors to specify where they want some of their money spent.

Then on Wednesday, they returned another 11 gifts to the White House, because the donors had not specified whether the gifts were meant for the White House or the Clinton family.

But when donors specify where they want their donation used, the money tends to go to agencies with the biggest budgets, like the Boy Scouts and the Red Cross.

Even if universities were in the habit of plugging budgetary holes with alumni gifts, they would often not be able to do so, because donors often specify what their money is to be used for.

Some donors specify that their gifts should go to one or another of the eight social service agencies that distribute the proceeds of the fund to needy families in the New York metropolitan region.

Some other states allow the donors to specify that the minor cannot get control of the account until he or she turns 21.