The World Monuments Fund has raised $62 million for its endowment, beating its fundraising target 18 months ahead of schedule and giving the New York-based preservation organization considerably more financial muscle to protect historic sites around the world.
The campaign, announced Wednesday, has tripled the organization’s endowment net assets, which are expected to pass $100 million by 2028. The money will support everything from conservation training to emergency efforts to protect cultural heritage threatened by war, climate change, and natural disasters.
The fundraising drive was launched publicly less than a year ago as part of WMF’s 60th anniversary celebrations. It was built around a $20 million matching challenge from the Robert W. Wilson Charitable Trust, which pledged to match 50 cents for every dollar raised, up to $40 million in donations.
Other major contributors included philanthropist Suzanne Deal Booth, who gave $10 million toward a new institute for heritage preservation that bears her name, and Virginia James, whose contribution falls between $5 million and $10 million. The donor list also includes familiar art-world names such as Susan de Menil, Stephen Lash, Annabelle Selldorf, and Christian Louboutin.
“Cultural heritage is being lost to conflict, climate change, neglect, and urbanization faster than the world can respond,” Bénédicte de Montlaur, WMF’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “This campaign gives WMF the long-term resources to act with greater urgency and ambition.”
Founded in 1965, WMF has worked to preserve more than 700 sites across 114 countries. Its projects range from conserving historic buildings and archaeological sites to training local craftspeople and helping communities protect cultural landmarks after disasters.
The new funding will bolster several of those jobs. The Suzanne Deal Booth Institute for Heritage Preservation has secured $21 million in endowed funds to expand conservation training, research, and professional development. Another $1 million from the Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust will support WMF’s Crisis Response Program, which helps protect cultural heritage in the aftermath of war and natural disasters.
The organization has also raised $4 million for preservation projects in the field and established a $2 million endowed fund to support the World Monuments Watch, its biennial program identifying cultural heritage sites facing serious threats.
The fundraising success comes as WMF begins a new five-year strategic plan aimed at expanding its international reach and making historic preservation a greater global priority.
For an organization whose work often involves racing against time, whether to save a historic building from demolition or protect an archaeological site from conflict, the expanded endowment offers something particularly valuable: a more reliable source of funding for the years ahead.
