Campaign Has Raised $2 Billion Since Launch

Harvard has raised $2 billion since the public launch of the University-wide capital campaign in Sept. 2013, bringing the total value of gifts and pledges to $4.8 billion, University spokesperson Jeff Neal said on Thursday.

This latest figure—which is up-to-date as of the end of September—brings the University $500 million closer toward its $6.5 billion goal since the last official figure, which was current through the end of the fiscal year in June.

By Tianxing Ma

The vast majority of donations raised between the end of June and September came from a $350 million gift from Gerald L. Chan in unrestricted endowment funds for the School of Public Health. The school was renamed the T. H. Chan School of Public Health with the gift, the largest single donation in University history.

If the University reaches its $6.5-billion goal, it would make the Harvard Campaign the largest fundraising drive ever in higher education. During the quiet phase of the campaign, more than 90,000 supporters contributed $2.8 billion in donations and pledges.

At the Campaign’s launch last fall, officials announced that 45 percent of the funds raised will go to teaching and research, 25 percent to financial aid and “the student experience,” 20 percent for capital improvements, and 10 percent as “flexible funding to foster collaborations and initiatives.”

This most recent figure does not include a gift from Steve A. Ballmer ’77 to add 12 professorships to the Computer Science department. This donation is estimated by The Crimson to be about $60 million, though Ballmer declined to specify its exact size.

Harvard reported a $2.7 million operating surplus in Fiscal Year 2014, a figure that was boosted by $420 million in current use gifts.

—Staff writer Dev A. Patel can be reached at dev.patel@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @dev_a_patel.