Campaign for the American Philosophical Society officially ended on December 31, 2008. It was the first comprehensive Capital Campaign in the Society’s history.
This six-year Campaign generated a total of $40,247,407—handily surpassing its original goal of $35 million. The results included 12 commitments of $1 million or more, and 48 gifts in the six-figure range. Approximately 50 new endowment funds were established during the Campaign.
The theme of the Campaign was Scholarship, Fellowship, Stewardship, representing the Society’s commitment to a continuum of scholarly endeavors, to the preservation of its world-renowned collections and their accessibility to a wider public, and to its mission, established by Benjamin Franklin, of “promoting useful knowledge” through its collegial activities as a learned society.
The Campaign had many positive results:
- Providing full support for a comprehensive renovation of the Library
- Increasing endowment resources for the Meetings, Research Grants, and the Library
- Sustaining the new APS Museum
- Dramatically increasing the Annual Fund (now called the Fund for the American Philosophical Society [1])
- Building a successful planned giving program [2]
- Garnering a substantial number of local and national government and foundation grants
The Society sends warm appreciation to the more than 1,600 donors who made contributions, large and small, in the course of the Campaign.