$2.1B Capital Campaign Passes Midpoint

The University announced this week that it has raised more than $1.1 billion in its $2.1 billion capital campaign, bringing Harvard's most ambitious fundraising effort more than halfway to completion.

According to Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs Fred L. Glimp '50, the campaign is slightly ahead of schedule.

But Glimp said that the second half of any fundraising effort is more difficult than the first, so the new totals put the University where it should be.

"When you reach the halfway point, you've already contacted the people closest to the University," he said. "The first part is always the easiest."

The current campaign marks the University's first effort to coordinate fundraising efforts among all its schools, but some of the schools are doing better than others at this point.

According to a press release from the Development Office, the Law School has raised 115 percent of its $175 million goal. The Design School and the School of Public Health have both topped 80 percent of their goals as well.

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) has been lagging two to three percentage points behind the graduate schools for the entire campaign. According to the Development Office press release, FAS has raised $483.7 million out of its $965 million goal.

Glimp said that many alumni are affiliated with the graduate schools and choose to support them first.

The vice president said, however, that he does not believe this trend will pose long-term difficulties for FAS's success in the campaign.

Areas for Improvement

The University will have to increase its fundraising efforts for construction, undergraduate financial aid and inter-faculty administration, the vice president said.

Funding has been secured for many of the University's high-profile construction efforts, such as Annenberg Hall, Loker Commons and the new humanities center, but Glimp said a great deal of work remains for other projects.

Although University fundraisers have not devoted much attention to the undergraduate financial aid during the first half of the campaign, Glimp said that efforts are being redirected toward such scholarship funds.

"We didn't really gear up for undergraduate scholarship funds early on, but I can't believe that we wouldn't finish on schedule," Glimp said.

Finally, raising funds for central administration efforts such as information technology management, presidential initiatives and interfaculty initiatives has proven difficult.

Harvard graduates are accustomed to giving to a specific faculty or for financial aid for a specific school, not to the University in general, Glimp said.

"The money doesn't usually show up in the University fund unless people are specifically asked to put it there," Glimp said.

Only about one third of the goal for these programs has been raised so far, according to the Development Office.

No major strategy changes are planned for the second half of the campaign, but the new numbers will help the University to better allocate its efforts in the areas that need help, Glimp said.

The University will also reach out to alumni it has not yet contacted through regional programs, he said.

"The alumni are great at responding when they know they are needed," Glimp said. "A number of people have really been working to make the big gifts down the stretch.

Harvard graduates are accustomed to giving to a specific faculty or for financial aid for a specific school, not to the University in general, Glimp said.

"The money doesn't usually show up in the University fund unless people are specifically asked to put it there," Glimp said.

Only about one third of the goal for these programs has been raised so far, according to the Development Office.

No major strategy changes are planned for the second half of the campaign, but the new numbers will help the University to better allocate its efforts in the areas that need help, Glimp said.

The University will also reach out to alumni it has not yet contacted through regional programs, he said.

"The alumni are great at responding when they know they are needed," Glimp said. "A number of people have really been working to make the big gifts down the stretch.