Protect What Matters Most
Due to sweeping changes in federal funding, the Duke Lemur Center is facing critical budget shortfalls. To continue caring for endangered lemurs, advancing research, and supporting global conservation, your help is urgently needed. (Read more in this letter from Executive Director Greg Dye.)
While unrestricted donations are always our top priority, these special Targeted Impact Gifts are options for donors who are interested in a larger contribution between $5,000 and $100,000 and wish to restrict their gift toward a special priority need. These opportunities offer a meaningful way to align your gift with the DLC’s high priority needs and inspiring programs we hope to fund in the coming year. Your generosity today ensures our mission thrives tomorrow.
Join us. Invest in impact. Protect what matters most.
Summaries of Gifts by Department
Animal Care and Wellbeing: Animal Care Technician apprenticeship position ($48,500), Motorola handheld radios for staff communication across the DLC’s 100-acre campus ($45,000 total or $7,500 for five radios), new computers for the animal care team ($15,000), professional development opportunities like conferences and workshops ($18,000), waterproof cameras for monitoring aye-ayes ($7,400)
Facilities and Maintenance: maintenance of our forest free-ranging enclosures ($20,000), updated welcome and visitor center signage ($5,000)
Madagascar Conservation: support our Coquerel’s sifaka conservation breeding program in Madagascar, in partnership with Madagascar’s Ministry of the Environment ($24,000), support environmental education ($26,000), help monitor and protect critically endangered lemurs like the silky sifaka ($32,000), replace our Madagascar truck with a Toyota Hilux 4X4 ($50,000), support women’s health ($30,000)
Museum of Natural History: purchase a dust collector for our fossil preparation lab ($11,300), support fieldwork in Wyoming searching for the first lemurs ($12,000), and protect our fossils (and the study of primate history) with specimen cabinets to house the collection ($45,204)
Public Outreach and Education: provide additional educational signage along the tour path ($20,000), enhance our accessibility for visitors ($5,000), continue our partnership with a local middle school ($6,000), support summer internships for Durham high school students ($5,000 for two internships)
Scientific Discovery: support field work in Madagascar to study primate hibernation ($29,600), fund specialized equipment needed for fat-tailed dwarf lemur research ($18,000) and for DNA or RNA sequences in real time ($23,000), support a Malagasy Ph.D. student ($36,000 for three years or $12,000 for one year)
Veterinary Medicine: fund a new manual enclave sterilizer ($5,425), new vital signs monitor ($6,605), or portable ultrasound machine ($37,000)
Additional Giving Options
General fund gifts are our top priority right now. These flexible, unrestricted gifts sustain the essentials: staff salaries, facility upkeep, and vital equipment.
For information about gifts of $100,000 or more, please visit our Major and Principal Gifts page.
For a summary of all of our giving opportunities, including stock gifts, corporate sponsorships, legacy gifts, and naming opportunities, please visit our Giving Options page.
Contact
The Duke Lemur Center is always happy to discuss our current priority needs and options for your gift to make a significant impact. Please contact our development officer, Mary Paisley, at mary.paisley@duke.edu or (919) 401-7252.
