This year was another record-breaker for the Campaign for Boston University.

During the 2016 fiscal year, which ended June 30, campaign donors gave $175 million, the highest single-year total yet. The sum brings the overall amount given during the campaign to $1.05 billion—about 70 percent of the 2019 target of $1.5 billion. Campaign contributions have dramatically increased scholarship resources at BU, endowed 48 full professorships, and created new and improved facilities campus-wide.

“We are overjoyed with the dollar total, of course, because of what it means for the entire University community,” says Scott Nichols, senior vice president for development and alumni relations. “But what is perhaps even more exciting is just how many folks have pitched in to this historic effort—more than 127,000 people in 105 countries. It’s just remarkable.”

Nichols also was notified last summer that BU had been invited to join the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s CASE 50, a group of the 50 educational institutions with the world’s most successful fundraising programs. Peers in this group include Harvard, the University of Chicago, the University of Oxford, Stanford, and UCLA.

Nichols says that he is thrilled to be part of such a respected group, and that this membership is another important milestone in BU’s groundbreaking campaign.

“The truth is, this institution moves so quickly that we sometimes lose track of where we stand in the context of our peer institutions,” he says. “It’s extremely gratifying to receive the outside validation that the CASE 50 ranking represents, and all of our alumni, parents, and friends can be proud to be part of one of the most generous university communities in the world.”