Launched in 2013, The Harvard Campaign saw unprecedented participation with more than 153,000 households from 173 countries contributing more than 633,000 gifts by its conclusion in the spring of 2018. The first fundraising effort to be inclusive of all Harvard's Schools, The Harvard Campaign's more than 1,400 volunteers served on committees across all Schools, with over half of those participating on committees at more than one School or unit.
Thousands more alumni participated in programs and events—including Your Harvard, a program which hosted alumni and faculty in 17 cities around the world.
"The support you've given to Harvard has allowed us to meet the central challenge we laid out when we publicly launched the Campaign: to seize an impatient future. This campaign has helped shape and secure Harvard's future by investing in both the enduring and emerging—sustaining what we have always been, and indeed must always be, as well as challenging us and enabling us in who we must become."
—President Emerita Drew Gilpin Faust
The Campaign supported and expanded critical financial aid and funded 142 endowed professorships University-wide, supporting faculty as they develop the ideas that matter and the solutions that are key to addressing society's most immediate challenges. The Campaign also enriched the arts and humanities; inspired innovations in education, business, design, and government; and fostered interdisciplinary and cross-cultural exchange. Generous gifts expanded and reimagined the University's physical campus, including funding new and renovated facilities for teaching and research that encourage discovery and academic growth across the fields of study.
After the Campaign's conclusion, Harvard President Larry Bacow JD '76, MPP '76, PhD '78 said, "As new challenges and opportunities arise in higher education and beyond, Harvard is well-positioned to respond and adapt thanks to the generosity of our alumni and friends. It is equally important that we lead by example as we seek to make the world a better place through our teaching and scholarship. We are enormously grateful to those who have supported us in this effort."
Learn More
"Harvard kicks off fundraising effort" (Harvard Gazette)
Watch Drew Gilpin Faust's speech at the start of The Harvard Campaign.
Read Drew Gilpin Faust's remarks at the close of The Harvard Campaign.
"Harvard Campaign ends, providing enduring investment" (Harvard Gazette)