Gift and Private Funds

The American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress operates on an annual appropriation provided by the U.S. Congress. In addition, the Center has benefited frequently from private-sector grants and donations, both from individuals and organizations, as well as special initiatives large and small, including field documentation projects, exhibitions, publications (print and recordings), conferences, and concerts.

The Center maintains nine funds for receiving donations, each devoted to a particular purpose. Gift funds receive donations that may be expended for the purposes specified by the fund. Trust fund receipts may be invested, under the supervision of the Library's Trust Fund Board, and thus help the Center build capital for large initiatives. A revolving fund enables the Center to produce items for sale, the revenues from which may be returned to the fund.

The Center welcomes donations, large and small, to any of these funds. Checks may be made payable to the American Folklife Center, with the name of the particular fund written on the comments line. Donations are tax deductible.

The American Folklife Center Fund
(Gift Fund G26600)
Established in 1977 by various donors to support public programs of the American Folklife Center.

The Elizabeth Hamer Kegan Fund
(Revolving Fund 800220)
Established in 1979 by Lawrence Kegan in honor of his wife, Elizabeth Hamer Kegan, former Assistant Librarian of Congress and an early supporter of the American Folklife Center, to promote interest in folklife through publications, recordings, and crafts.

Friends of the Folk Archive Fund
(Gift Fund G28200)
Established in 1978 by folksinger Michael Cooney and various other donors, to support the Archive of Folk Culture and collection-based activities of the Center.

The Gerald E. and Corinne L. Parsons Fund for Ethnography at the Library of Congress
(Trust Fund 720660)
Established in 1994 by former Center reference Librarian Gerald E. Parsons Jr. in honor of his parents, to support the use of the Archive of Folk Culture and ethnographic collections housed elsewhere in the Library of Congress, by persons or organizations in the private sector. Select on the title of this fund to go to application information.

The Henry Reed Fund for Folk Artists at the Library of Congress
(Trust Fund 720850)
Launched in 1999 by Alan and Karen Jabbour and other donors, in honor of oldtime fiddler Henry Reed, this fund was established to provide support to activities directly involving folk artists, especially when the activities reflect, draw upon, or strengthen the collections of the American Folklife Center.

The Raye Virginia Allen Fund
(Trust Fund 720380)
Established in 1984 in honor of former American Folklife Center board trustee Raye Virginia Allen, by her mother, Mrs. Irvin McCreary, to support projects and activities of the Center.

The Save Our Sounds Project Fund
(Trust Fund 626601)
Established in 2000 to support the work of restoring and digitizing endangered sound recordings as part of the Save Our Sounds Project. To donate, see the the Make A Donation page in the Save Our Sounds Web site.

The Veterans Oral History Project Fund
(Gift Fund G50050)
Established in 2001 by various donors to support the programs and activities of the Veterans History Project. For more information, visit the Veterans History Project web site.