New Yorkers are taking an increasingly visible interest in international charities, as evidenced by the short but successful life of the UNICEF Snowflake Ball.

The ball, which first took place three years ago, raised $2.6 million Tuesday night, a 38% increase more than last year. The 750 guests at Cipriani 42nd Street could barely squeeze past one another.

Hedge fund rainmakers Larry and Amy Robbins, who founded Glenview Capital Management, are typical of the new supporters UNICEF is attracting.

“We saw a compelling investment case for UNICEF,” Mr. Robbins said. His judgment was based on the organization’s efficiency — the nonprofit evaluator Charity Navigator found that 92% of donations go to programs — as well as the difference it is making every day in the lives of children and families. “We wanted to give with our hearts and our heads,” he said.

Within a few weeks of attending the first Snowflake Ball, Mrs. Robbins was meeting with UNICEF staff in its New York offices to learn about the organization. In the past 18 months, she has been on five field trips with UNICEF, participating in relief distribution in Niger, Ethiopia, and Malawi.

“I was a French and finance major, a banker for nine years, and then worked with my husband at Glenview for five years,” Mrs. Robbins said. “Now I am fortunate enough to be able to work with UNICEF.”

The couple founded the Mercury Fund for Emergency Response and underwrote the gala so that all proceeds could go directly to the fund.

“Last summer we brought 4.2 million liters of water to 80,000 children,” Mr. Robbins said, showing his penchant for quantifying the return on his investment.

“It’s a three-year project focused on bringing water, nutrition, and health care to 26 villages,” Mrs. Robbins explained.

“When I first met Amy, I started to get new hope for UNICEF,” the organization’s representative in Ethiopia, Bjorn Ljungqvist, said.

“The Robbins come and participate, they give their creativity and experience. They are a new breed of sponsors and partners,” said Mr. Ljungqvist, who has worked with the organization for 20 years.

Other supporters of the Snowflake Ball were the editor of Town & Country, Pamela Fiori; the designer Charlotte Moss, who is opening a store next year; Alicia Bythewood, and Hilary Gumbel, whose husband, Bryant Gumbel, served as master of ceremonies. The junior co-chairwomen were Yale graduates Margaret Betts and Barbara Bush, whose fathers, Roland Betts and President Bush, became friends in their Yale days.

The UNICEF Snowflake, which has decorated 57th Street since 1985, will also turn into a fund-raising vehicle next year. The organization is giving donors the opportunity to have their name engraved on one of the 16,000 crystals that make up the snowflake, assembled by Baccarat.