<p>LessTraveledBy, This may seem strange, but consider the position of the “private source.” This is probably an alum or friend of your school, a person in financially comfortable circumstances who has made it known to the school that they are willing to help out students who need a little extra aid. For this hypothetical person, $3500 is not a big sum. And this hypothetical person wants to help out young, promising students. This person would be thrilled to give such a tiny donation to help out a young, promising student at their school. It would make this person happy to be able to contribute in some small way to a student’s success.</p>
<p>I think you should call or write the prospective donor, and allow them to help. Sometimes it’s harder to take than to give, but in this case, in my opinion, you’d be doing yourself and the donor a favor.</p>
<p>Edited to add: And then you can pay it forward.</p>