The University of Cambridge has reached a milestone for UK university fundraising as the first university outside the US to raise £1bn in voluntary income - two years ahead of schedule.

The total raised for the university and colleges by the 800th Anniversary Campaign has just surpassed £1bn.

This total does not include more than £250m of pledged bequests, a significant contribution to the Colleges and University over the long term.

The campaign was launched publicly in autumn 2005 and, under the banner of “Transforming tomorrow”, has attracted broad support from alumni and friends globally.

Money raised by the university and the 31 colleges in this campaign has gone towards bursaries and funding for new buildings. Earlier this year it was reported that Cambridge needed to raise up to £300m to finance two major property projects in the city and was looking at both borrowing from banks and issuing bonds for the first time in its 800-year history.

Campaign co-chairman Sir David Walker said: “Our alumni and friends in the UK and internationally are responding with generosity and vision to the call of this campaign. They understand the need for sustained investment if teaching and research are to remain cornerstones of Cambridge's excellence and ability to seed the world with ideas.”

Cambridge hasn’t been the only university to benefit from fundraising donations. Figures from the latest Ross-CASE survey, the annual survey of gifts and costs of voluntary giving to higher education in the UK, has shown that there has been an increase in cash received and donors, securing UK universities over £500m in philanthropic gifts from over 163,000 donors in the academic year 2008-9.

The “Transforming tomorrow” campaign will continue for the remainder of the original campaign period.