The 2013 fiscal year was the most successful fundraising year in the university’s history, as it received a record $830.5 million in new commitments toward its Rising to the Challenge campaign.

Since the campaign’s May 2013 launch, more than 184,000 individuals have given a total of $2.63 billion in cash and pledges, all toward an unprecedented goal of raising $4.5 billion.

One of this campaign’s distinguishing aspects is its focus on people. The Rising to the Challenge campaign has set ambitious goals for new endowed chairs for faculty and financial aid for students. Thirty-eight percent of the campaign’s goals are dedicated to programs supporting faculty and students, compared to 20 percent in the last campaign. The university began the campaign with 360 endowed professorships and has already raised funds to support 110 new endowed professorships. The university has also doubled its annual fundraising for endowed undergraduate aid compared to the last campaign.

Finally, the university has received $620 million in new endowment commitments in the campaign to date. These efforts to grow the endowment will continue to be essential to our financial future—the endowment provides a bedrock of funding for the long-term academic and strategic priorities of the university.