Loyola Marymount University’s capital campaign has raised $382 million, exceeding its goal seven months early, the university announced today.
President David W. Burcham reported the news to the LMU community at his annual convocation address.
“This is tremendous cause for celebration, and another example of how a great institution builds on its successes,” said Burcham. “Our most recent gift, a $5 million dollar pledge from the William H. Hannon Foundation, put us over the top. Now, it is my intention to reach $400 million by the end of the campaign.”
The gift from the Hannon Foundation is targeted for the Life Sciences building.
The campaign – Right Place. Right Time. The Campaign for LMU – was publicly launched in late 2005 with a $300 million target. In 2009, the target was raised to $380 million and the campaign was extended through the LMU centennial, which concludes in May.
The campaign’s goal is to increase financial aid and scholarships for talented students, enhance recruitment and retention of faculty scholars, and to improve the research and learning environment by building new facilities.
During the campaign, LMU raised funds for and completed the William H. Hannon Library and the Thomas P. Kelley Jr. Student Art Gallery, remodeled the Charles Von Der Ahe Building as an alumni and student service center, and has raised $66 million for the next major campus addition, the Life Sciences building. It also created 237 student scholarships, as well as 19 chairs and professorships.
The William H. Hannon Library opened in 2009 and was a $64 million project. The dramatic, circular building is one of the campus focal points, housing more than 500,000 volumes, extensive archives, special collections, state-of-the-art technology and study areas.
During the fund drive, the total number of new donors increased nearly 29,000, and during the last four years of the campaign, the number of alumni donors rose by more than 43%.
Every category of major gift-giving has increased during the campaign, with a tripling in the amount of money raised through donations of $1 million or more, and a similar increase in the amount of money raised from gifts of $500,000 to $999,000.