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> The Smithsonian Institution endowment is a roughly $2.6 billion investment portfolio (as of 2024) that provides permanent, private financial support for its

> The Smithsonian Institution endowment is a roughly $2.6 billion investment portfolio (as of 2024) that provides permanent, private financial support for its museums, research, and educational programs. It acts as a crucial supplement to federal funding, investing in diversified assets like stocks, bonds, and private equity to generate annual payouts, which generally support staff positions I guess $2.6B isn’t enough in the late stage capitalism era to stave off tacky.

ggm 7mo ago
Hate to be a party pooper but what kind of income do you beleive is sustaining for a national museum with extensive archives, repositories, conservation costs and ongoing collection needs, quite apart from simple building maintenance, outreach and staffing? $2.6b generates at best of the order $200m in usable funds. I would be amazed if that is even remotely close to the operating costs of an institution like this.
- Someone 7mo ago
  Reading https://www.si.edu/sites/default/files/oa/smithsonian-2024-web.pdf https://www.si.edu/sites/default/files/oa/smithsonian-2024-w..., they’re spending $1.7b a year. Interesting financial report, by the way. Lots of info about what they do with photos, lists of who donated money, and then, the real financials start at page 79 of 87 and end on page 82.
  - ggm 7mo ago
    has "Endowment Payout 7%" which is a fine figure, both of their total revenue and of the %return on investment you get as a sustaining proposition from a long life fund. Half the opex is federally funded. half the costs are salaries. The SI employs a lot of people and costs far, far more than the endowment to operate. the page 80 endowment disbursement distribution is fascinating too. they do amazingly good work across the board, from this money. I have a tiny, weenie functional duty of care on a board over a sum 1/100 of this size and if I felt we were doing as well as them in governance, I'd be proud. I will say, I think they should lawyer up and defend the retention of the shuttle and tell the politicians to F off but I can understand reluctance to be this bald about it.
- throwaway27448 7mo ago
  How does our military fund itself? How does the war in Iran fund itself? C'mon let's be serious: it's a public service and it should be funded by the state.
  - ggm 7mo ago
    I think thats the point I was making. I was responding to a post which suggested the endowment should be adequate to self fund. It's clearly not. It's useful, self-directed funds.

ggm 7mo ago

Hate to be a party pooper but what kind of income do you beleive is sustaining for a national museum with extensive archives, repositories, conservation costs and ongoing collection needs, quite apart from simple building maintenance, outreach and staffing? $2.6b generates at best of the order $200m in usable funds. I would be amazed if that is even remotely close to the operating costs of an institution like this.

Someone 7mo ago
Reading https://www.si.edu/sites/default/files/oa/smithsonian-2024-web.pdf https://www.si.edu/sites/default/files/oa/smithsonian-2024-w..., they’re spending $1.7b a year. Interesting financial report, by the way. Lots of info about what they do with photos, lists of who donated money, and then, the real financials start at page 79 of 87 and end on page 82.
- ggm 7mo ago
  has "Endowment Payout 7%" which is a fine figure, both of their total revenue and of the %return on investment you get as a sustaining proposition from a long life fund. Half the opex is federally funded. half the costs are salaries. The SI employs a lot of people and costs far, far more than the endowment to operate. the page 80 endowment disbursement distribution is fascinating too. they do amazingly good work across the board, from this money. I have a tiny, weenie functional duty of care on a board over a sum 1/100 of this size and if I felt we were doing as well as them in governance, I'd be proud. I will say, I think they should lawyer up and defend the retention of the shuttle and tell the politicians to F off but I can understand reluctance to be this bald about it.
throwaway27448 7mo ago
How does our military fund itself? How does the war in Iran fund itself? C'mon let's be serious: it's a public service and it should be funded by the state.
- ggm 7mo ago
  I think thats the point I was making. I was responding to a post which suggested the endowment should be adequate to self fund. It's clearly not. It's useful, self-directed funds.