When the Community Gifts through Harvard Campaign kicked off last fall, Harvard staff were urged to give generously.

Now that the results of the Campaign are in, it appears that they have taken that injunction seriously.

The 1998-99 Community Gifts through Harvard Campaign has raised $802,626, an increase of $32,397 over last year's total. More than 700 charitable organizations benefited from the Campaign, with only 5 percent of the funds donated to agencies outside of Massachusetts.

President Neil L. Rudenstine sent a letter this week to thank the many University Campaign workers for the role they played in making the Campaign a great success.

"We continue to show our own community's generosity and commitment to helping people in need. I am proud of our record of giving and hope it will continue to increase," Rudenstine said.

The United Way of Massachusetts Bay received $413,786 (52 percent) of the receipts. According to Carolyn Hansen, a director of fundraising for United Way, Harvard University's employee United Way Campaign leads all educational institutions in the United Way of Massachusetts Bay area and is the eighth largest contributor among nearly 1,700 workplace campaigns in that region.

Community Works received the second largest amount in the Other Charities option of the Harvard Campaign with $24,448. In total, $388,840 went directly to other charities. The other top charities of the 1998-99 campaign were Rosie's Place, Planned Parenthood, the AIDS Action Committee, Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Shelter Inc., the Salvation Army, Horizons Initiative, Oxfam America, Literacy Volunteers of Massachusetts, and the American Red Cross.

"We are fortunate to have the University provide options for individuals to reward their favorite charities using a payroll deduction," said Jane Corlette, associate vice president for government, community and public affairs and this year's campaign chairperson. "This convenience has made our campaign successful and allowed us to make a very large impact on the community."