Give a legacy of learning
YOU can establish a named endowment at the Austin Children’s Museum to provide annual resources in perpetuity so that your children, your grandchildren and their grandchildren will discover the joy of learning at the Austin Children’s Museum.
Why should I consider an endowment gift?
Building a healthy endowment for the Austin Children’s Museum provides institutional security for generations to come by creating a predictable source of income to fulfill our mission each year, positioning the Museum to weather fluctuations in annual giving typically driven by external factors beyond our control such as natural disasters and economic business cycles. Additionally, endowment support provides resources for planning strategic growth initiatives and responding to unique opportunities that greatly benefit our community.
The Austin Children’s Museum is poised to become widely recognized as one of the best children’s museums in the nation. To achieve this goal, the Museum must have funds available to effectively implement our strategic plan. With predictable financial resources available each year, we can deliver on-going Museum wide improvements that will benefit children, families and educators for generations to come.
How can I fund an endowment?
Endowments can be established with an outright gift or with up to a five year pledge to benefit specific Museum programs or for use at the discretion of the Executive Director. Corporate matches can be applied to your gift goal. Endowments can also be established with gifts of stock, real estate or planned gifts.
How will my gift be managed?
Individual endowment gifts will be pooled into a large fund on behalf of the Museum by the Museum’s agents. Governed by the Board of Directors, the Museum’s endowment corpus is never spent but allowed to grow with careful professional financial management. A percent of the earnings, as determined by the Museum’s Board of Directors, is used to meet mission goals and strategic initiatives each year providing predictable income with which to responsibly guide the Museum’s service to the children of our community for generations to come.
If you prefer, you may choose to make a gift of any size to the ACM General Operating Endowment. These gifts are pooled together for investment purposes and a percentage of the annual earnings is used to support infrastructure needs of the Museum including facilities maintenance, staffing recruitment, retention and training, and information technology needs.
Learn more about existing endowments and funds at ACM.
Endowment Purposes:
Unrestricted Gifts
An unrestricted gift provides the highest level of flexibility for the Museum over time to direct funds to areas of greatest need or strategic mission development. Expenditures from unrestricted endowment distributions are determined by the Executive Director with the approval of the Board of Directors.
The purpose of these endowments is to meet areas of greatest need on an annual basis. This may include general operating support, strategic reinvestment, capacity building, and staff recruitment and retention for the Executive Director to advance his or her vision for the Museum. Generally these funds will be planned for as a revenue stream to be expended as part of the annual budgeting process. Minimum funding levels ensure an annual distribution equivalent to the annual ACM Clubhouse membership. For information on minimum funding levels, please contact the Museum’s Resource Development Office at 512-472-2499 x212.
ACM Clubhouse Lifetime Membership Endowments
Visionary Endowment
Inventor Endowment
Discoverer Endowment
Explorer Endowment
Adventurer Endowment
Designated Gifts
A designated endowment allows a donor to direct their funds to a program they have personal interest or passion for therefore investing in the long-term ability of the Museum to present the highest quality programs because of steady, predictable funding.
Organizational Support Endowments
These endowments permanently fund key positions at the Museum. The endowment provides steady and predictable funding each year to ensure the Museum’s ability to recruit and retain the highest quality staff. Funds may be used for salary, salary supplements, benefits and ongoing professional development opportunities and involvement in professional organizations related to their field of expertise which add to the reputation of the Museum amongst its peer institutions. Additionally, if funding levels permit, the endowment may provide a small discretionary fund to be used for the benefit of the department at the discretion of the holder of the endowment position. For information on minimum funding levels, please contact the Museum’s Resource Development Office at 512-472-2499 x212.
Endowed Directorship
Endowed Educator
Endowed Internship
Program Endowments
The purpose of these endowments is to provide a steady and predictable source of annual revenue to fund the conception, development, creation and implementation, (including research, materials and supplies, tools, professional development and training and staff salaries for staff directly responsible for the conception, development, creation and or implementation) of the specified program. For information on minimum funding levels, please contact the Museum’s Resource Development Office at 512-472-2499 x212.
Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Endowment
Endowment in Information Technology
Endowment in Visual Arts and Culture Education
Endowment in Literacy Education
Endowment in Early Childhood Education
Endowment in Music Education
Endowment in Open Door Museum Access
Endowment in Community Outreach
Endowed Scholarship
Endowment Benefits (PDF)
For more information please contact the Museum’s Resource Development Office at 512-472-2499 x212.