The Art Newspaper

Israel Museum receives $12m from Safra foundation

Gift is part of a $100m renovation campaign

By Charmaine Picard. Published online: 20 May 2009

Museum director James Snyder

NEW YORK. The Israel Museum has received $12m from the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation, towards the renovation, reinstallation and endowment of its fine arts wing, which will be renamed after Edmond and Lily Safra. The gift is part of a $100m renovation campaign, of which over $90m has already been committed, that will unify its 20-acre campus and expand exhibition and public spaces. The museum upgrade, by James Carpenter Design Associates and Efrat-Kowalsky Architects, is scheduled for completion in May 2010.

Funding for the museum has increased in 2008 despite difficult economic times, thanks in large part to its network of friends of the Israel museum groups—located in 14 countries around the world—as well as from the Director’s Circle, a membership group of about 40 international donors. The museum’s all-Israeli board is responsible for governance and oversight, while the fundraising arm of the Israel Museum is the “friends” groups, which are overseen by the International Council.

Fundraising for the Israeli institution, which receives only 10% to 12% of its operating budget from State and Municipal sources, has been an uphill battle since it was founded in 1965. Museum director James Snyder says: “Our approach is unique by way of necessity. Although we are de facto the national museum, we operate more like an American non-profit.” The institution must raise 88% of its yearly operating budget, all of its endowment and $100m for its recent capital project, while paying 17.5% VAT as well as real-estate taxes on the campus property.

Maureen Cogan, co-chair of the International Council, told The Art Newspaper: “Our role is to connect the different “friends” groups to each other, and to increase the network of members in each country, thereby increasing support for the museum through fundraising and art gifts.” The most active of the “friends” groups is the US organisation, which raised $270m in cash, of which $47m is in endowment funds, and donated $210m in art from 1972 to 2008. Several museums such as Tate Modern, the Centre Georges Pompidou and the Hermitage Museum have “friends” organisations in the US and abroad, but no other institution has the international network that the Israel Museum enjoys.

Under the leadership of Mr Snyder, who came to the institution in 1996, the museum has built an endowment of $75m, and is currently raising capital to bring the fund to a more comfortable $150m. To date, it has raised over $40m towards its goal, mainly through international support. “Building an endowment is just not a tradition here. It’s a very young country and most organisations, like ourselves, start from scratch, raising all of our support for capital development and for operating support,” said Mr Snyder.

He added that Israel does not enjoy a longstanding philanthropic tradition and that tax incentives are not as significant as in the US and other countries. Mr Snyder responded to the suggestion that many Jews’ strong attachment to Israel makes his funding situation unique: “Of course we have a substantial amount of money from the Jewish cultural community worldwide. It’s about the universality of Jerusalem—our organisations in Germany, Italy and France are significantly not Jewish.”

Museum director James Snyder