The University of Maryland, Baltimore saw the biggest jump in private donations in 2013 among some of the state's largest charities while the University of Maryland at College Park experienced the largest decline in gifts raised last year, according to a recent survey of the nation's 400 largest charities.
The Baltimore campus of the University of Maryland, which includes the medical and law schools, received $109.6 million in private support last year, a 40.6 percent increase from the previous year, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy's list of the nation's 400 largest charities. The university's growth in donations outpaced the nearly 11 percent average increase for the charities on the list. It moved up 86 spots on the rankings to No. 200.
A spokesman attributed the jump in total donations to large gifts to the Institute of Human Virology from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Catholic Relief Services.
Meanwhile, the University of Maryland at College Park saw its private support drop 15.6 percent to $79 million, leading it to fall 30 spots to No. 271.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy's annual list ranks the 400 charities that receive the most donations — cash, products, property, stock and other gifts — from "individuals, corporations and foundations in the United States," according to its methodology. The list "is designed to show which groups do the best in appealing to donors, so other types of income, such as government payments, are not included."
The Maryland charities that received the most in donations were, in order:
Goodwill Industries International ($975 million); the Johns Hopkins University ($519 million); Catholic Relief Services ($257 million); the American Kidney Fund ($219 million); the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ($137 million); University of Maryland, Baltimore; University of Maryland at College Park; The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore ($76 million); Foundation for the National Institutes of Health ($59 million); and Fisher House Foundation ($45 million).
Goodwill Industries International, based in Rockville, ranked 12th on the national list, falling from its previous No. 9 position. At least half of its $975 million in donations — a 2.7 percent increase over 2012 — came in the form of products. The total value of its donations included gifts to Goodwill's 165 local independent headquarters across the nation and Canada, a spokeswoman said.
Johns Hopkins University saw an 8.1 percent increase in private support, lifting its ranking one spot to No. 31. Catholic Relief Services fell 14 spots to rank at No. 80. Meanwhile, The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore jumped 100 spots on the list to rank at No. 280 with a 3.3 percent increase in private support.