Furman University in South Carolina have raised more than $400 million in a decade-long campaign, putting the university in a position to better serve its students and community, The Greenville News reported.

The university ended its campaign "Because Furman Matters" campaign on Dec. 31 after raising $406 million, officials announced on Tuesday. According to The Greenville News, the campaign began in July 2004. By fall 2007, the university had raised $225 million.

Interim President Carl Kohrt said in a statement that he was humbled by the generosity of the individuals and organizations that contributed to the campaign.

"The sustained investment in Furman's long-term success represented by this campaign has immeasurably strengthened academic life and the student experience at Furman," Kohrt said in a statement. "It ensures that the University remains a vital educational and economic resource in Greenville and the Upstate."

The campaign was created to fund a number of major initiatives by the school, which includes building resources for scholarships and academic programs, enhancing student life experience, and expanding efforts in the Greenville community.

Throughout the 10 years, the contributions kept coming in as the university went through four different presidents "has yet to name a permanent successor to Rod Smolla, who left last May," The Greenville News reported.

"But I think the neat thing about that is that it's the institution that people were investing in, with some satisfaction that the leadership was adequate to keep the institution thriving," Kohrt, a 1965 alumnus who served as Chair of the Board of Trustees when the campaign was announced, told The Greenville News. "But they were giving to what Furman meant to them and will mean to others going forward, not necessarily who was in the chair."

Furman University officials said the campaign was the largest among private colleges in South Carolina and is also among the largest undertaken by any of the nation's liberal arts colleges.