(1) They step up to work with communities in need.
Donors are vital to the work of our emergency response teams that rescue cultural heritage from disaster. National Heritage Responders brings in volunteers to work alongside communities in the wake of catastrophe while Alliance for Response empowers community volunteers themselves as climate change threatens museums, libraries, archives and historical spaces.
(2) They create opportunities for others to learn more about conservation.
Our donors are part of why conservators across the world are able to answer questions about the field on Ask a Conservator Day, and why we can send our newsletter, Friends of Conservation, which teaches anyone with an interest about conservation work.
(3) They help the next generation.
Do you want to make sure future conservators have the knowledge and skills they need to succeed? Our donors sure do. They fund our professional development workshops, our Stout scholarships to the Annual Meeting, and all the many other ways we’re training tomorrow’s conservators to be ready for whatever comes next.
(4) They’re helping develop tools to chart a path for a better and more resilient future.
The work conservators do to preserve our cultural heritage is at risk more than ever with climate change becoming a bigger threat by the day. Our carbon calculator for museums (STiCH), our emergency response teams (National Heritage Responders and Alliance for Response) and our series of tools including mapping climate risks for conservators (the Climate Resilience Project) would not be possible without individual donations.
(5) They’re expanding our ability to offer inclusive, equitable programs.
With support from the National Endowment for Humanities, this year we released our report Held in Trust: Transforming Cultural Heritage Conservation for a More Resilient Future, which looked forward towards what we’ll need to do to build the best possible future for conservation. In doing so, we again and again were reminded of how important it is that conservation expands its reach beyond traditionally represented groups. Donations allow us to offer free or discounted access to professional development, the annual meeting, Conservation OnLine (CoOL) and other programs to those who wouldn’t otherwise have access.
(6) They support our ability to help others in the field.
Have you benefited from the Collections Assessment for Preservation (CAP) program? What about Connecting 2 Collections Care? Thank a donor. Without them, museums, libraries and archives would lose access to vital assessment and collections care they need, particularly smaller museums with limited resources.
(7) They look towards the future as they protect our past.
Our donors funded Held in Trust: Transforming Cultural Heritage Conservation for a More Resilient Future, to figure out how conservation could adapt to a changing world, but maybe it’s no surprise that they’re also invested in saving the history of conservation for future generations. Our oral history project, hosted by the University of Delaware’s Winterthur program, uses donations to help support its mission to preserve the memories of conservators of yesterday and today.
(8) They know every little bit counts.
While we love getting huge donations – and who doesn’t? – FAIC is primarily funded on small donations from conservators in the field. It doesn’t matter if you give $10 or $10 million, every bit of funding advances our ability to help practitioners in the field.
(9) They’ve been the backbone of what we do for fifty whole years!
Now, on our anniversary, it’s especially important to look back on what donors have done. Without them, there is no FAIC.
(10) They know that conservation is the irreplaceable record of what makes us human. It is the memory of our past, the account of our lives today, and the expression of human creativity across time. In other words, they know why we all are in this field, and are doing what they can to support the next fifty years of conservation. Thank you!