Multiply the impact of your personal contribution to the American Philosophical Society.
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Matching gifts—when combined with your donation—double or triple the resources available to the Library, Museum, and other programs.
Nenawan (Maggie Duck) of the Ojibwe community of Little Grand Rapids, Manitoba, 1930s. Photo by A. Irving Hallowell. A. Irving Hallowell Papers. American Philosophical Society.
The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded the American Philosophical Society a $500,000 challenge grant to create an endowment for the Library’s Center for Native American and Indigenous Research (CNAIR).
CNAIR will allow the Library to build on a quarter millennium of collecting Native American materials, and several years of unprecedented activity involving both collegial and digital partnerships with Native American communities. This permanent and dynamic division of the Library will focus on the pursuit and integration of scholarly, archival, and tribal interests, and in the process, inspire new scholarship and educational initiatives among both academic and Native communities. Three overarching programmatic goals encompass CNAIR’s potentially wide-ranging impact:
Practicing and promoting Digital Knowledge Sharing as a catalyst for a new era in Native American and indigenous studies
Establishing a consortium of sister repositories (including emerging tribal archives) and working collaboratively toward extensible models to serve scholars working in the fields of Native American studies, ethnohistory, linguistics, cultural anthropology, and ethnomusicology
Encouraging a new generation of indigenous scholars to advance academic pursuits and cultural revitalization in tribal settings
To date, we have raised more than $1,454,000 of the $1,500,000 needed.
For more information or to make a gift, please contact Linda Jacobs at 215-440-3434 or [email protected].
Endowment and Restricted Gifts
Alexandra Montgomery and Will Fenton, 2016 and 2017 Elizabeth R. Moran Fellows. Alexandra Montgomery worked to uncover the history of Brushwood and Bryn Clovis farms using a newly donated deed collection spanning nearly 300 years of Chester County history. Will Fenton examined hundreds of volumes of diaries across the American Philosophical Society manuscript collections. See the online diary research guide he developed with the APS technology team over the course of his fellowship
The APS’s endowment, built up over more than two centuries with gifts from Members and Friends, has a history of sound management with steady long-term growth. Investment income from our restricted and unrestricted endowment funds plays a crucial part in our operations.
If you have any questions or wish to establish an endowment fund, please contact Linda Jacobs at 215-440-3434 or [email protected].
Examples of naming opportunities include:
Library funds for the acquisition and processing of books and manuscripts
Research Grant funds in all fields for graduate students and postdoctoral level scholars
Exhibitions
Public outreach programs
Meetings
Principal staff positions
Endowed Research Grants
A. cervicornis transplanted fragments on cement “cookies” attached to a hard substrate at Calabash Forereef. Photo by Kathryn Lesneski, Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research grant recipient (2016).
The APS is one of the preeminent organizations in the nation offering grants and fellowships on a competitive basis for scholarly research. The APS has a long and distinguished tradition of research and exploration, dating back to the founding era. Since 1933, the APS has provided grants and fellowships to more than 16,000 scholars—many of them younger scholars at critical stages in their careers. In the last decade alone, the APS has awarded some 1,500 research grants to early-career scholars at more than 600 colleges and universities.
Donors may endow and name a research grant for a minimum contribution of $50,000 in the programs listed below, or they may establish general endowments for research grants, allowing the APS to apply the funds as needed in programs such as those listed below. Donors will receive annual reports on the recipients of grants supported by the income from their respective endowed funds.
Franklin Grants provide funds in any discipline for research that is often travel-related, usually to museums and libraries abroad. There are few, if any, comparable programs of this scale offering grants that are fully portable (i.e., not tied to a specific research center or discipline). These grants are generally awarded to postdoctoral scholars and typically support the cost of research leading to publication.
Lewis and Clark Grants for Exploration and Field Research were established in 2004 in honor of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial. (The APS cosponsored Lewis and Clark’s journey, and its Library is home to their journals.) The Lewis and Clark Grants support doctoral students from disciplines with a large dependence on field studies, such as archeology, anthropology, biology, ecology, geography, geology, linguistics, paleontology, and population genetics, but grants will not be restricted to these fields.
Library Resident Research Fellowships provide support for short- and long-term fellowships for scholars from outside the region, enabling them to use the resources of the APS Library on site. Recipients come from all over the world. The Library is internationally recognized for its holdings in early American history and culture; the history of science, medicine, and technology; and Native American anthropology.
Please contact Linda Jacobs at 215-440-3434 or [email protected] for further details.
Meeting Patrons
Photo by Frank Margeson.
The APS encourages contributions to the endowment of the Meetings, an APS tradition that reaches back to the year of its founding. Meeting Patrons are recognized on a prominent plaque in Benjamin Franklin Hall. Planned gifts (including intended bequests, if sufficiently documented) as well as outright gifts are accepted for this purpose.
The titles of the gift levels below pay tribute to the first eight members of the American Philosophical Society (not including the founder, for whom Benjamin Franklin Hall is named). These eight “Men of Speculation,” along with Franklin, embody the tradition of APS Meetings, which continue to bring together leading thinkers and doers of their times to share observations, experiments, and research. The descriptor following each name is the stated role of that individual in the operation of the APS, as established in its founding Proposal. Engaging profiles of these men are provided in Dr. Whitfield J. Bell Jr.’s Patriot Improvers, which comprises short biographies of APS Members between 1743 and 1768.
Meeting Patron Circles of Support
$1,000,000
John Bartram Circle, Botanist
$500,000
Phineas Bond Circle, Natural Philosopher
$250,000
Thomas Bond Circle, Physician
$100,000
William Coleman Circle, Treasurer
$75,000
Thomas Godfrey Circle, Mathematician
$50,000
Thomas Hopkinson Circle, President
$25,000
William Parsons Circle, Geographer
$10,000
Samuel Rhoads Circle, Mechanician
For more information or to make a gift, please contact Linda Jacobs at 215-440-3434 or [email protected].
A Tribute or Memorial Gift is an especially meaningful way to recognize friends, family, colleagues, and special occasions, while at the same time supporting the American Philosophical Society's mission.
Your contribution will be acknowledged with a personalized card sent to the honored individual or family—without reference, of course, to the amount of the gift. In addition, the name of the individual being honored will be listed in the Society’s Report to Donors.
Gifts may be mailed to:
Development Department
American Philosophical Society
104 South Fifth Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Please remember to include the name and address of the person who should be notified of your generosity.
For more information, please contact Linda Jacobs at 215-440-3434 or [email protected].
The American Philosophical Society established the Friends of the APS in 2009 to engage wider audiences in Benjamin Franklin’s visionary mission of “promoting useful knowledge.” Today, Friends and Alumni of the Society's grant and fellowship programs contribute critical unrestricted funds and designated donations to the Society’s independent research library, public museum, publications, and research program that provides support to early-career scholars and scientists for projects around the globe.
Your support will help steward national treasures, promote new knowledge, and open the Society’s doors for public learning and enjoyment. The APS welcomes unrestricted gifts, but you may also designate your annual contribution for the Library, the Museum, Research/Grants, and/or Publications.
Supporting Friends and Alumni enjoy engaging opportunities for intellectual fellowship. Private offerings include:
Exhibition previews, public lectures, and scholarly presentations
Exclusive behind-the-scenes tours
Advance notice and registration for special programs
Networking and "meet up" gatherings, on- and off-site
Gift Levels and Benefits
Contributors are invited to enjoy a full year of engagement opportunities. All levels receive monthly e-news and recognition in the Society’s Annual Report.
Tours and events are scheduled at specific times. Email [email protected] or call 215-599-4303 for details. Registration is required. We look forward to connecting you with Friends and Alumni offerings!
The annual contributions of the APS’s elected Members and their families are critical to the operation of the Society. This support makes possible all of the APS’s core programs by helping to meet the costs of staffing, facilities, and administrative expenses. It would be impossible to carry on the day-to-day work of the APS without these charitable contributions.
The Members’ Annual Fund allows you to support more than one core program with a single gift distributed according to your preferences. As always, the APS welcomes unrestricted gifts, but you may also designate your annual contribution for the Meetings, the Library, the Museum, Research/Grants, and/or Publications.
Gifts to the APS are fully tax-deductible in accordance with the IRS code.
For further information, please contact Linda Jacobs at 215-440-3434 or [email protected].
The Society’s banking information has changed. If you wish to make a gift via ACH or wire transfer, please contact Linda Jacobs, Director of Development, at 215-440-3434 or [email protected] to receive the Society’s updated wiring or ACH instructions.
Assets
Assets that you no longer need, such as life insurance, real estate, undeveloped land, art, or jewelry, are an alternative to cash.
Donor Advised Funds or Private Foundations
The APS accepts gifts from donor advised funds and private foundations.
Appreciated Securities
Gifts of appreciated securities (held for more than one year) may be beneficial to you in terms of avoiding capital gains taxation. SECURITIES may be transferred directly into the APS’s gift account at Merrill Lynch, account #8FW02056, DTC #8862. For tax purposes, and in accordance with IRS regulations, gifts of securities are valued by calculating the mean between a stock’s high and low on the date of gift, which is generally the date on which it is transferred into the APS’s account.
To ensure proper gift recognition, please contact Linda Jacobs, Director of Development, at 215-440-3434 or [email protected] with the name of the donor, as well as the name and number of shares to be donated. Banks will not provide the names of donors.
Gifts of Tangible Personal Property
Gifts of Tangible Personal Property are of interest to both the Library and the Museum, in accordance with their respective collecting policies.
Other Ideas
There are also gifts that leave your cash flow uninterrupted, such as bequest intentions or revocable trusts. Or you may consider making us a beneficiary of your retirement plan. You can also make a gift that pays you life income. Gift annuities and charitable trusts will pay you income for life with the remainder benefiting the APS.
Gifts to the APS are tax-deductible in accordance with IRS regulations. For additional information, please contact Linda Jacobs, Director of Development, at 215-440-3434 or [email protected].
