A couple donated $30 million (S$6.1 million) to Renmin University of China, their alma mater, on Feb 28, but donations still only occupy a small part of income for universities in China.

Duan Yongping, who donated the money with his wife, Liu Xin, got his master's degree in economics at Beijing-based Renmin University of China in 1988.

His wife graduated from the university's School of Communications and Journalism in 1990. Duan is president of BBK Electronics Co Ltd.

Alumni donations in China are in stark contrast to their overseas counterparts, many of which enjoy bountiful gifts from well-heeled graduates.

"Donations from alumni have just started in China and they cannot be compared with the universities overseas," said Chen Xiaoyu, an assistant professor with Peking University's Graduate School of Education.

According to the Statistics Yearbook of the Funding for Education, donations provided about 1 percent of university funding in China. At public universities in the US, the amount is as high as 5 percent.

Chen said universities abroad realize alumni are a prized resource and try hard to communicate with them. The alumni there understand the tradition of donating, Chen added.

Most alumni organizations in the West began as independent entities, Chen said. However, in China, universities started to direct their attention on alumni and universities established organizations to win their hearts in more recent years, Chen added.

"Donations from alumni will become a tendency and an important part of income for universities in the future," Chen said.

Still, building bonds between universities and their alumni has been an arduous process in China.

In the US, the alumni giving rate is an important index used in one of the most prominent rankings, that undertaken by US News & World Report. According to the magazine, Princeton University has an alumni giving rate of 61 percent, the highest among those ranked. At most US universities, just more than 20 percent of graduates give.

There are now more than 200,000 alumni of Renmin University, but the university's alumni office is only able to reach tens of thousands of graduates, said an official surnamed Geng with the office.

"Because the alumni are mobile, we only could connect with them through contacts among other alumni," Geng said.

Geng said Internet and magazine postings are used to reach graduates.

However, some alumni said they have never heard from the university.

"I have lost connection with the university after graduation and it reduces my affection for the university," said an alumna surnamed Wang, who graduated from Renmin in 2003.

Wang said she got her master's degree in the UK and has received e-mails, including job opportunities, news about the university, and party invitations occasionally from the overseas school.