Social donation is a means for individuals, government organizations, and non-government organizations (NGOs) to provide public products and services for society. Seeking social donation is vital in the improvement of the university. This paper probes into the relationship between social donation and university development by comparing social donation levels and practices in China with those in the U.S. The main reasons why social donations in Chinese universities are relatively low are as follows: (1) independent NGOs have not been formed; (2) the system and mechanism of social donation are not perfect, and (3) many restricting factors of social culture still exist in China.