Purdue University multi-year fundraising effort tops $2.5B

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - Purdue University says its multi-year fundraising initiative is now the biggest effort to raise funds in the school's history.

The university says Tuesday that the "Ever True: The Campaign for Purdue University " campaign has generated $2.529 billion as of June 30, well above its $2.019 billion goal.

The campaign was launched in 2012 and publicly announced in 2015. The fundraising effort is ending as Purdue celebrates its sesquicentennial and the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing where Purdue alumnus Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon.

"Ever True" led to more than 1 million gifts from 209,551 donors across 113 countries. Of those gifts, 387 were of $1 million or more, and more than 740,000 were $100 or less.