Smithsonian Announces $2.5-Billion Drive

The Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, will kick off a $2.5-billion capital campaign sometime in the next few years, but any large gifts from corporations received in that campaign will face more scrutiny than before.

The fund-raising push will be the first private campaign in the institution’s history, reports The New York Times.

The museums operate on $1-billion per year, 70 percent of which the federal government supplies. But senators and other government officials have urged the museums to look harder for private support. The money raised will go toward repairing the institution’s buildings.

Also, just a few days after the American Petroleum Institute rescinded a $5-million gift for an ocean exhibit, the Smithsonian adopted new rules on accepting gifts from corporations, reports The Washington Post.

The Smithsonian board originally approved the gift but backed down when scientists questioned whether accepting a gift from an oil-company trade group was appropriate for a marine-biology exhibit.

Read coverage in The Chronicle of recent management changes at the Smithsonian in response to a scandal over executive pay.

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