Despite the controversy over its leadership, the Smithsonian Institution does not expect to take a fundraising blow this year, its acting secretary said Monday.
Officials were concerned recent financial management issues at the museum would deter givers, but the museum is expected to bring in $140 million in donations this year, after projecting $115 million, Cristián Samper told reporters. The museum raised $132 million in 2006.
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The Smithsonian has been plagued by controversy since it discovered that Secretary Lawrence Small had spent $90,000 in unauthorized expenses and charged the institution more than $1 million to use his mansion for official functions. Small left in March. Other individuals in leadership positions such as Sheila Burke, chief operating officer and deputy secretary of the Smithsonian, and Gary Beer, chief executive officer of Smithsonian Business Ventures, later resigned from their positions.
The Smithsonian’s board of regents has now adopted 12 of the 25 reforms recommended after an internal review of its governance policies, Samper said.
Some measures were adopted during a regents meeting Monday including making the chairman and the chancellor of the board two separate positions.
Samper said he also expects to have acting deputy secretaries in place to fill Burke’s position by the end of this week; he is dividing her office into two separate positions, one devoted to history and culture affairs and the other to finance and similar matters.
A main goal in the upcoming months for the Smithsonian, which expects a 9 percent increase in attendance for 2007, is to determine the future of the museum’s Arts and Industries building. A request for proposals seeking ideas for the property will be issued in the next few weeks. The ideas could included suggestions for public-private partnerships, Samper said.
