This year, our top priority for fundraising is to secure about $450,000
for our annual fund (or 7.5% of our $5.9 million operating budget). To
support hands-on learning every day at the Museum, our budget covers a
wide variety of people, equipment and support items.
The Museum’s largest single investment is in our staff – dedicated team
members who routinely go “above and beyond” to provide enriching
educational experiences for our community. What materials or other
goods does the Museum use to meet our mission? Consider the immersive
impact of the Magic Wings® Butterfly House, which requires utilities, butterfly
chrysalises and care for the tropical plants. Learning by doing through
facilitated experiments takes materials ranging from liquid nitrogen to
binoculars to plant seedlings. Hands-on, immersive experiences that are
a memorable part of learning require both the materials and the staff
to create valuable educational experiences – and annual fund support
makes our success possible.
You can support the Museum’s annual fund by:
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Become a Corporate Member or Donor. Many leading corporations in our
area contribute to the Museum’s mission with gifts ranging from $600 to
over $20,000 annually, and receive recognition and admission passes to
share the Museum with employees or clients.
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Become a Supporting Member. You will enjoy enhanced member benefits
and recognition and your leadership will encourage others to invest in
science education. The Chrysalis Society recognizes members who give
$1,000 or more annually; Patrons are recognized for a contribution of
$600 and Sustainers for a contribution of $300.
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Support a project or program.*
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*Support these projects or programs:
Sponsor free admission for children under 3 for the year and benefit over 30,000 of the Triangle’s littlest learners - $25,000
Support the Museum’s
“Science in a Suitcase”
Become a program serving Durham and schools and homeschoolers in our region - $15,000
special event sponsor and enhance the visitor experience while
gaining positive community recognition, support ranges from $1,500 to
$5,000
Support the Investigate Health! Lab to bring hands-on science to visitors
Butterfly House – gifts of any amount may be designated to support
costs of butterfly chrysalises, utilities and horticulture totaling
about $80,000 annually. The chrysalises come from Central and South
America, Asia and Africa and are a means of sustainable agriculture in
the developing world whereby farmers can make a living from the
forest’s natural resources.
Educational supplies – gifts of any amount may be designated to provide
materials from paper and glue to Petri dishes and microscopes. The
Museum needs over $50,000 annually for materials to create hands-on
learning excitement for children served in our family and school
learning programs.
Animal care – gifts of any amount can support the care and feeding of
the Museum’s 60 species of live animals that connect people with the
natural world. It takes over $90,000 a year to feed and care for our
animals – bears, the donkey, lemurs and tarantulas – just to name a
few. Our animal department grocery list might surprise you with items
like 40,000 crickets, 3,000 apples, over 2 tons of bear chow and 365
bunches of kale.
Adopt an Animal with a gift of $45 or $60 and receive a stuffed animal
and learning package to keep or share. Buy a Brick in the Dinosaur
Trail with a gift of $300 or $500.
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