Give a Donation, Ask for Naming Rights

Back in July, Joan Weill, the wife of Citigroup billionaire Sandy Weill, announced she and her husband would donate $20 million to a small, cash-strapped school called Paul Smith's College in New York's Adirondack Mountains with one big string attached: She insisted that the school would have to be renamed in her honor, to forever be known as Joan Weill-Paul Smith's College.

Weill is a former trustee of the school, which sits miles from the nearest town and specializes in forestry and hospitality programs. She's given big gifts in the past, and she argued that with her name given top billing, more donors around the country would open their wallets. Paul Smith's President Cathy Dove negotiated the name change in secret and announced the rebranding of the school to alumni as a done deal.