ORONO – Alumni and other friends donated more than $18 million to the University of Maine in the year that ended June 30.

With the exception of 2002, when UMaine received a valuable donated patent, this represents the largest one-year private fundraising total in UMaine’s history.

The $18,358,852.95 in gifts supported everything from scholarships and research to 4-H programs and the renovation of historic buildings, including Lord Hall, the new home of the university’s Department of Art.

“The response to our fundraising efforts has been overwhelmingly positive,” said UMaine President Robert Kennedy in a prepared statement issued this week.

The largest gifts during 2005-06 included:

. Three estate gifts totaling nearly $4 million

. A gift of the Mahaney Dome donated by the late philanthropist and community leader Larry Mahaney

. A $500,000 gift from the Libra Foundation to support the renovation of the Maine Center for the Arts

“These returns are particularly gratifying as we continue progress on the largest fundraising initiative in UMaine’s history, a six year campaign to raise at least $150 million,” said Barbara Beers, who became UMaine’s vice president for development in March.

She noted that the first two months of the campaign’s second year have seen several large gifts to the university, including the donation by Bank of America of the Hutchinson Center in Belfast.