UNC announced Saturday it recently surpassed another major benchmark in its ongoing capital campaign: $5 billion.

The university shared a release with the Campaign for Carolina update, as gifts from more than 215,000 donors reached the total just one month before the five-year fundraising effort comes to a close.

The Campaign for Carolina launched in 2017 with the goal of raising $4.25 billion, which represented the second-largest public university fundraising goal in the United States at the time. UNC surpassed that mark in January 2022 before securing even more commitments for what’s described as current and future needs for the university.

Initial priorities for the campaign included securing financial resources to better the student experience, retain faculty, fund scholarships and support a “culture of innovation.” Since the start of the fundraising effort, the university has received gifts that expanded schools, upgraded athletics facilities, renamed buildings and support performance programs, among other things.

“I am immensely grateful for the community of donors and volunteers who have supported us on this journey,” UNC Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz said in Saturday’s release. “Their generosity represents a strong affirmation of our mission of teaching, research and service. Reaching this milestone ensures that Carolina will continue to prepare generations of students and scholars to solve the grand challenges of our time.”

Through the campaign so far, UNC reports 160,611 donors gave less than $1,000, with the median amount across the entire fundraising effort being $50. 721 donors gave at least $1 million, while 74 donors gave more than $10 million. The university also reported the most recent fiscal year (2021-22) set a new record for funds raised by UNC in a single year: $798.1 million.

Vice Chancellor for Development David Routh, who has been credited as one of the architects of the capital campaign’s success, thanked the UNC alumni, faculty and staff who contributed.

“We have arrived at this extraordinary moment because of our donors,” he said. “Carolina is truly fortunate to have such broad support from people who find ways to give and to help others. Our University has a stronger future because of them.”

Even as the university crosses the $5 billion mark, Routh said it is still urging those who are willing to give in the final days of the campaign. Since reaching the $4.25 billion, UNC has shifted its priorities for fundraising of scholarship opportunities and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Currently, the university is $10 million away from a total of $1 billion exclusively committed to scholarship and financial aid efforts for students.

With these Campaign for Carolina gifts, UNC becomes the first university in the southern United States to raise more than $5 billion in one campaign and just the sixth public American university to do so — joining University of California-Berkeley, University of California-San Francisco, UCLA, University of Michigan, and University of Washington.

The Campaign for Carolina officially ends on December 31, 2022.

 

Photo via Johnny Andrews/UNC-Chapel Hill.

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