For the third year in a row, UCLA shattered its fundraising record, receiving a total of $664 million in gifts and pledges in the fiscal year that ended June 30. Donations of all sizes came in during 2015–16 from a record 61,740 donors to support an array of priorities, including undergraduate scholarships, endowed professorships and graduate student fellowships. Approximately 95 percent of the total number of gifts were for less than $10,000.

The last fiscal year marked the fourth consecutive year of growth in philanthropic giving for the university. This auspicious achievement came as the Centennial Campaign for UCLA reached the halfway point. The $4.2 billion campaign was publicly launched in May 2014 and is scheduled to conclude in 2019 during UCLA’s 100th anniversary year.

“I am extremely gratified by the overwhelming generosity shown by tens of thousands of people around the world who share our vision for UCLA’s next century,” said Rhea Turteltaub, UCLA vice chancellor for external affairs. “The success of this campaign is due largely to the diligent efforts of many volunteers, faculty, staff, alumni and friends who are committed to helping the campus shape its future.”

The $664 million total broke the previous record high of $644 million set in 2014-15. UCLA raised $557 million in 2013–14 and $507 million in 2012–13. Including a private phase that began in July 2012, the Centennial Campaign has now raised more than $2.7 billion — 65 percent of its goal of $4.2 billion.

The single largest donation of $100 million in 2015–16 came from the David Geffen Foundation to help UCLA establish a new secondary school, the Geffen Academy at UCLA, that will provide an innovative college preparatory education for Los Angeles-area students in grades 6 through 12. The donation provides immediate support for facility renovations, faculty and curriculum development, and other key strategic tasks needed to launch the school on the Westwood campus.

In all, donors from 50 states and 61 countries made 79,422 gifts to UCLA in the last fiscal year. More than 17,500 of these donors were giving to the university for the first time. Alumni donors represented 65 percent of all who donated.

These wide-ranging gifts, given with imagination and vision to achieve different purposes, illustrate the power of private philanthropy to inspire change:

In October, the university will celebrate the grand opening of the UCLA Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center. The $100 million gift made previously by Meyer and Renee Luskin illustrates how transformative a single gift can be to the entire university. In addition to establishing endowments for the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs to support graduate students, faculty and emerging research areas, their gift presents the campus with a new space where thought leaders and innovators from all over the world will gather to exchange ideas, enhancing UCLA’s role as a catalyst for innovation.

Over the past seven years, UCLA has ranked No. 1 on average in U.S. fundraising among public institutions, according to the Council for Aid to Education’s most current survey.

The Centennial Campaign for UCLA seeks to build on the university’s strengths and ensure its long-term excellence by continuing progress toward self-reliance — state support accounts for only about 7 percent of revenues — and increasing UCLA’s endowment. Among the campaign’s primary goals are increasing funding for undergraduate scholarships and graduate student fellowships, growing the number of endowed professorships and enhancing other forms of faculty support.

The Centennial Campaign executive committee is co-chaired by Anthony Pritzker and Garen Staglin. The campaign is being led by Turteltaub and associate vice chancellors for development Kathryn Carrico and Laura Parker.