Strengthening the endowment of the Heard Museum could be the single-most important strategy in which this institution can invest.

Endowment income provides the best source of financial stability to support and expand programming. Unlike many other cultural institutions, the Heard Museum owns its facilities and does not receive substantial government subsidies that other nonprofit organizations enjoy. Instead, we rely on private support and earned income as the primary sources of revenue to sustain our operating budget, making us extremely vulnerable to the economy, national disasters, tourism and the stock market.

An endowment strategy at the Heard Museum is not about keeping the lights on or balancing the budget. It is about securing the financial future of a world-class institution well beyond our lifetimes. For 80 years, the Heard Museum has had fundraising priorities that take precedence over building the endowment. Now that the capital projects and satellite locations are in place, it is time to build the endowment to secure and expand the programming to meet the needs of our communities.

Endowment funds are primarily received through current major gifts, life income gifts and estate gifts. They include bequests, gifts of life insurance and retirement assets and a variety of life income agreements such as trusts and annuities.

There are a number of naming opportunities available for contributions to the endowment fund. For more information about acknowledgments and giving to the endowment fund at the Heard Museum, contact Dani Boone, Donor Relations Specialist, at 602.346.8192.

From top: Children prepare a new year's crop in the Thunderbird Children's Garden; members of the Naranjo family, including Zak Naranjo Morse, Jody and Susan Folwell and Nora Naranjo Morse; Karl Duncan, Howard Berlin, Santa Clara Pueblo artist Rose B. Simpson and Joy Berlin; and Navajo/Maricopa dancer Lane Jensen.