By Holly Hall

Most capital campaigns by colleges and universities that seek to raise $1-billion or more are on track to meet their goals, despite the bad economy, according to a new report.

The findings differ from those of a study last spring by The Chronicle of Higher Education, which found that a dozen billion-dollar campaigns were raising about a third less money (down 32 percent) then they had the year before.

The new report, by Marts & Lundy, a fund-raising consulting firm in Lyndhurst, N.J., analyzed 26 of the biggest campaigns now under way. Seventeen of the drives started before December 2007, when the recession officially began, and the nine others began in 2008.

Using regularly updated data on billion-dollar campaigns in higher education from The Chronicle of Higher Education and "big gifts of $50-million" or more compiled by The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Nelson Lees, a senior consultant at Marts & Lundy, conducted the analysis.

Mr. Lees first calculated the average monthly increase reported by all 26 campaigns. He then compared it with the average monthly increase it would take for those same institutions to reach their goals over a seven- to eight-year period, which was the average length of campaigns among all of the institutions.

By that measure, Mr. Lees said, the campaigns appear to be making sufficient progress toward meeting their goals. He said that other organizations now contemplating campaigns should be encouraged by the findings, as long as they have well-established constituencies and a well-organized campaign plan.

However, Mr. Lees did find evidence that the tough economy is affecting campaigns. Those started before the recession, for example, are collecting more in gifts and pledges each month than those that began later.

And gifts of at least $50-million to colleges and universities have slowed considerably, Mr. Lees said. So far this year, The Chronicle of Philanthropy has reported six such gifts, down from 31 last year and 43 in 2007.

Given that finding, institutions embarking on a campaign might do well to count on fewer multimillion-dollar gifts than they would otherwise — and concentrate on winning more contributions of $100,000 or more, said Mr. Lees. Doing that, he added, might require more fund raisers and drive up the cost of raising money.

A free copy of the report, "Billion-Dollar Campaigns on Track to Meet Goals," is available online; free registration is required to access it.

Holly Hall is a features editor at The Chronicle of Philanthropy.