The Columbus Foundation awarded $160.6 million in grants last year, an all-time high that represents an increase of 66 percent over the previous year.

The foundation took in significantly less than it gave out, a development that had been expected. Large donations from Limited Brands and its founder, Leslie H. Wexner, in 2011 and from an anonymous donor in 2012 had driven up gift totals to record levels in recent years.

Those “were two separate once-in-a-lifetime gifts,” president and CEO Doug Kridler said. “We knew what would commence was an investing by us of those funds.”

For 2013, gifts and bequests totaled $107.3 million. The $160.6 million in grants went to nearly 3,000 nonprofit organizations supporting a range of causes.

Those awards represent about 9.4 percent of the $1.7 billion in assets held by the foundation, which is the nation’s seventh-largest community foundation.

The foundation held its annual Celebration of Philanthropy today in its own Davis Hall.

Kridler said the foundation, created 70 years ago “at the time of the ‘greatest generation,’” may be in the midst of the local community’s “greatest generation philanthropically.”

Other highlights announced today:

An anonymous donor has given $500,000 to establish the new Gifts of Kindness Fund, which provides one-time grants of roughly $500 to $3,000 to help area residents with emergency needs such as rent, utilities, transportation and basic household items. Initially, four local nonprofit agencies — the YMCA of Central Ohio, LifeCare Alliance, Homeport and the Clintonville-Beechwold Community Resources Center — will administer the grants to clients. The fund is to remain open, and additional donations are welcome.

The Crane family received the foundation’s Harrison M. Sayre Award for outstanding philanthropic leadership. The Columbus Foundation Award went to the Wexner Center for the Arts.

A critical-need alert launched last month surpassed its $350,000 goal and raised nearly $400,000 to provide essential school supplies and clothing to children who experience homelessness in central Ohio this year. The money will be distributed to the YWCA Family Center, Homeless Families Foundation, the Salvation Army and Volunteers of America.