October 2010 e-Amistad Reports

October 2010

In This Issue

From the Director

Profiles of Philanthropy

The Bucks Start Here

Amistad by the Numbers

During the past year, the Amistad Research Center:

Added 1,524 books to our library collection

Processed over 370 linear feet of archival materials

Assisted over 400 visiting researchers from 23 states and 6 foreign countries

Assisted an additional 790 researchers via phone and email

Has been visited by over 1,700 visitors, tours, workshops, and classes

Serviced 237 reproduction requests and provided over 12,000 photocopies and photo/media reproductions

Sponsored 5 major exhibitions highlighting the Center's archival, printed, and art collections

From the Director

The Amistad Research Center is a private nonprofit corporation that is governed by an independent board of directors, funded through public and private grants, and receives gifts from corporate and individual donors. The economic landscape seems to change daily, but the Center continues the mission of protecting and preserving its premier collection of original materials for the study of ethnic history, culture, and race relations in America. Amistad, like many arts and humanities organizations, faces significant challenges on numerous fronts.

Amidst growing competition for fewer charitable dollars and diminished corporate, foundation, and government support, we are increasingly dependent on annual fund gifts from individual donors. Last year's unrestricted annual gifts were dedicated to preserving collections, creating a new website and social media presence, sponsoring innovative programs and special exhibitions, and allowed for timely response to opportunities that made a difference in our competitive standing among peer institutions.

Ambitious 2011 plans call for a significant increase in the number of collections that are globally accessible on our website, more timely and effective communications from Amistad updating our progress and aiding scholars and researchers, and increased efforts to maintain a manageable backlog of unprocessed collections leading to expansion of public access to requested materials.

Right now we need your assistance to accomplish these tasks--your concern, your involvement, and your financial support. Please respond by giving generously to the 2010 Annual Fund for Amistad Research Center.

We have made enormous progress in the past few years largely because of strong bonds with caring and farsighted partners around the country. Predictably, the future growth of Amistad depends on strengthening those bonds and continuing the partnerships that advance knowledge and understanding of the true history of America's ethnic minorities. We rely on your ongoing support to continue this legacy of historical preservation. Click the Make a Donation button below or visit Amistad's website to receive gift-facilitating ideas and information about types of gifts that you might share.

Executive Director

Lee Hampton

Profiles of Philanthropy

The Amistad Research Center is fortunate to have supporters in varying age groups, income brackets, and geographical regions. Profiles of Philanthropy is one way we can share stories of generous donors who are linked together by their support and investment in Amistad. Not every story measures the effects of an extraordinarily large gift. Some stories are about loyalty, others are about meeting specific philanthropic goals, and still others are about legacies left for generations of future Amistad constituents to enjoy.

Each donor's unique contribution of time, expertise, ideas, passion, inspiration, and monetary resources brings us closer to a time when our mission to preserve the rich history of African Americans and other ethnic groups is assured adequate funding. The profiles of our philanthropy are always evolving and changing. The excerpts below are but a few of the many ways that donors have made true impacts on the Center. We hope that you will be inspired to join them so that we may someday report your story.

Mrs. Willie Hart and Amistad Director Lee Hampton

Mrs. Willie Lee Hart of Chicago, Illinois, has been associated with the Amistad Research Center for over thirty years. During most of her association, she has served with the Chicago Friends of Amistad, which could very well be featured in a separate tribute due to the group's invaluable support. As president of the group, Mrs. Hart never tires of urging the membership to continue its support of Amistad--a message which each year the Friends continue to heed.

Mrs. Hart is also an ardent supporter of Amistad America Inc., an internationally recognized non-profit educational organization that owns the schooner La Amistad. Mrs. Hart insists that "the Amistad story is a major part of American history, making it extremely important to preserve the Center's collections of original materials in order to ensure African American inclusion in future accounts of the nation's history."

A sustaining member of Amistad's Donor Honor Roll since its 2004 inception, Mrs. Hart recognized that she was unable to make immediate impact gifts that were compatible with her philanthropic goals. She was pleased to learn that Amistad offers many ways to support its mission, and after consulting appropriate legal and financial advisors, she was able to make a deferred gift through her estate. Amistad personnel have begun the inventory of library volumes and paintings for transfer of ownership to the Center, and official declaration of a formal bequest has been received.

John Bullard and Beyond the Blues curator Margaret Vendryes

Edgar John Bullard, III assumed directorship of the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) in April 1973. His distinguished career became noted for accomplishments, service, and longevity and he remained director until August 2010. Mr. Bullard was awarded the Egyptian government's Order of the Republic in 1978 for the museum's presentation of The Treasures of Tutankhamen. In 1987, he was awarded the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by Loyola University of New Orleans, and in 1994 he was made a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters of France for his service to French culture. He was promoted to the order's highest level of Commander in 2009.

Because of his position at NOMA and close ties as a member of Amistad's Board of Directors, John understands, perhaps more than many of Amistad's supporters, the need for critical operating funds: "I am keenly aware of the significant relationship of strong annual fund support to the critical success of any nonprofit organization. These unrestricted dollars ensure a broad-based, reliable source of funds, which directly underwrite day-to-day operations and programmatic activities."

For John's philanthropy, gifts of cash are the simplest, most effective way to provide this important support to Amistad. Continuing as a member of the Donor Honor Roll each year, John Bullard was the first individual donor to make an annual fund contribution to Amistad at the Clifton Johnson Recognition Club level.

PamelaJune Banks-Anderson

Chaplain PamelaJune Banks-Anderson hails from Columbus, Ohio. She began her military career in 1986 and became a commissioned naval officer in 1987, serving until retirement in 2009. Chaplain Banks-Anderson is the founder of the National Restoration to Military Families Team, which works with communities to assist military personnel and their families through cycles of deployment and periods of bereavement. The chaplain is currently conducting research at Amistad for a writing project which will be published with the title Between the Rock and Hard Places: Our Journey Before and Beyond the 1957 Merger of the United Church of Christ.

Chaplain Banks-Anderson, who previously restricted her philanthropy to church tithing, memorialized a major gift to the center in honor of her parents, contractually arranged monthly pledge payments to fund the gift, and sustained payments through automatic bank account debit until gift completion. The chaplain is contemplating another pledge that will support the preservation of Amistad collections and personal papers related to the United Church of Christ. She encourages the "use of pledges to support Amistad's efforts to preserve important papers and expand access to global citizens."

-The Bucks Start Here...

The Amistad Research Center's Staff is often the unheralded source of accomplishment and progress at the Center, while the executive director and board members are more frequently the face of the organization. Day after day, the staff conducts the programs and activities that deliver the mission, vision, and strategic plan of Amistad. The time, effort, and advocacy expected of employees have a huge impact on all aspects of the Center's operations. It is significant and particularly meaningful to share the staff's philanthropic profile.

The ARC's staff wanted to make an emphatic statement about stakeholder support. They set the tone for the last annual fund campaign by making personal financial contributions in relation to each individual's capacity. The result?--100% participation by staff before confidently asking others to join them in support of the cause!

The generous level of team giving was noteworthy, but the symbolic gestures of unity and self support have not gone un-noticed by potential donors and others. The staff convincingly asserts that gifts of all sizes are needed and that everyone has vested interests in giving. The assertion is bolstered because the philosophy of the staff's philanthropy profile is that the bucks really do start here.