The 38th Harvard College Fund drive, completed this summer, apparently chalked up the largest one-year increase ever recorded by an annual alumni fund. The drive netted $2,347,596, 40 per cent more than the $1,676,778 raised in 1962-63.

James A. Rousmaniere '40, executive director of the Fund, yesterday described the increase as "fantastic." In the future, he said, he will be satisfied with a 10 per cent growth rate. The Fund's goal for 1964-65 is $2,750,000.

In the 1963-64 drive, the 25th reunion class, 1939, became the first class to donate more than $500,000 in a single year. Fifty-two per cent of the class--993 graduates--contributed a total of $510,000.

The record of the Class of '63 was also heartening, according to Rousmaniere. The class exceeded its goal of $6,000 by 14 per cent.

Only 38% Give

One disappointment, however, was the low percentage of alumni who contributed. Only 38 per cent of the College's graduates gave money, well under comparable figures for other Ivy League schools. At Yale, 55 per cent of the alumni gave $2,945,000 last year. At Dartmouth, 70 per cent gave $2,347,000, and at Princeton, 65 per cent gave $1,864,000.

Rousmaniere said he hoped that the intensified fund drive, which was reorganized three years ago, would soon be able to match the percentage contributions of other colleges and of Harvard's professional schools. Fifty-two per cent of Law School graduates and 48 per cent of Business School alumni have contributed annually in recent years.

The College Fund figures include only unrestricted gifts by living alumni--no bequests. The money is used by the College to meet current expenses and none of it is added to the endowment.