Fundraising Drive Big Boost for Library’s Shelf Life

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The smallest donation amounted to $5 from a 6-year-old girl who said she wanted to see a Chinese garden at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino.

The largest was the bequeathment of a nearby mansion with an endowment worth $65 million.

Between those extremes were more than 160,000 donors, 70 of whom gave at least $1 million each.

The bottom line: a wildly successful six-year fundraising campaign that overshot its goals, even during a recession.

This week, officials at the educational and research institute founded by Henry E. Huntington are expected to announce that they have raised more than $243 million since 2004, significantly more than the targeted $175 million. The institution got an additional $122 million in bequeathments, future pledges and giving-in-kind.

“Our goal was to create financial stability,” said Steve Koblik, the Huntington’s president, “and we’re in a much stronger financial position now than we ever have been.”

Considered a central depository of Southern California history, the Huntington – the former home of Huntington, a railroad magnate, and his wife, Arabella – features large collections of art, books and rare manuscripts, as well as 120 acres of botanical and themed gardens.

Among the strategies that the institution employed during the campaign was to offer donors added access to its collections during fundraising events. But Koblik said he believed most of the success can be attributed to a decision to hold detailed discussions with “core donor groups” on the goals of the institution’s fundraising.

“It was very open and participatory,” he said. “People bought into our needs.”

Some of the money has already been spent on those needs, including the $18 million Liu Fan Yuan Chinese garden that debuted in 2008. The Huntington residence and art gallery was closed and has been reopened after an extensive renovation. Also, an exhibition hall devoted to the history of science was constructed.

The largest donation came from a family the Huntington declined to identify, but described as a young couple who had bequeathed their $65 million home and endowment upon their deaths.

Huntington officials said they intend to boost the institution’s annual $28 million operating budget and increase its endowment of $240 million by an unspecified amount.

“We just decided collectively to jump-start the place,” said Paul Haaga, vice chairman of the Capital Research and Management Co. in Los Angeles and a Huntington trustee. “We are really benefitting from the momentum built up over years.”

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