Rapier said that with the prospect of massive development in Allston—which will cost billions of dollars—Harvard will be working toward soliciting those kinds of massive individual donations.

“There definitely are opportunities [in Allston] where we are hoping we’ll be able to get some larger gifts than we have in the past,” she said.

Asked about the Chronicle ranking in a September interview, University President Lawrence H. Summers also said he expected attracting larger gifts would be a goal in the future.

“As we look towards whenever the University has its next campaign, the area of very large gifts, which is not an area where Harvard has traditionally been as focused as some other universities, will certainly be a major priority,” he said.

Rapier said the University is now in “pre-planning” phases of considering a Harvard-wide capital campaign.

The University’s last campaign, which was completed in 1999, earned a then-record $2.6 billion.

A decision on a new campaign will follow the completion of academic plans for the Allston campus, Rapier said.

—Staff writer Elisabeth S. Theodore can be reached at theodore@fas.harvard.edu.