The New York City-based American Civil Liberties Union has announced the completion of its Leading Freedom Forward campaign. The largest-ever fundraising effort on behalf of an American civil rights and liberties organization raised $407 million, far surpassing the organization's initial $250 million goal.

Funds raised through the five-year campaign have and will be used to build the organization's infrastructure by increasing funding to key state affiliates nationwide, enhancing its advocacy capabilities, and securing the organization's financial future. Launched in January 2005, the campaign raised more than $150 million in cash gifts and over $250 million in planned gifts, including a $13 million donation from Irwin and Joan Jacobs and a $12 million gift and challenge grant from the Open Society Institute. The campaign secured the largest donations ever in the organization's ninety-year history, some of which counted as the most significant gifts those donors had ever made to a nonprofit or charitable organization.

A major goal of the campaign was to substantially boost the organization's national presence and effectiveness by significantly increasing the programmatic and institutional capacity of its affiliates, particularly in states where violations of civil liberties are most egregious and opportunities for change most promising. To that end, smaller affiliates located mainly in the South and in the country's heartland were bolstered by resources from the campaign that enabled them to hire full-time attorneys, launch new advocacy programs, and expand communications and public education initiatives.

"Given the challenging economic times and the changed political landscape, the success of this campaign is nothing short of extraordinary," said ACLU executive director Anthony D. Romero. "The fact that our donors stepped up to the plate over the last few years is a tribute to their understanding that while political and economic conditions may change, the need to vigilantly protect our fundamental freedoms remains a constant."