Update on The Charles Welch and Andrea Katz Fund
A year ago, we celebrated the career and retirement of former DLC Conservation Coordinator, Charlie Welch, and shared that a new Duke Lemur Center endowment fund was established in honor of Charlie and his wife, Andrea Katz. We’re proud to share that it is nearing $300,000 in total donations! This milestone will satisfy Duke’s minimum funding required for a restricted endowment, allowing us to add “Conservation” to the fund’s name to become The Charles Welch and Andrea Katz Conservation Fund!
Here’s where we are:
In the first year, ten donors submitted formal pledges for gifts totaling $143,000. As of today, those donors, together with 63 others, have made donations toward this special endowment. The fund has already begun to generate revenues to support the Duke Lemur Center in perpetuity:
$264,588.62 TOTAL GIFTS RECEIVED AS OF 5/19/2026
It’s exciting to see that the fund’s total payments, plus an additional $79,000 of future donations from remaining pledges, show we are expected to surpass $300,000 in the next few years!
Consider the Welch and Katz fund for special gifts in your future.
If our conservation programs are near and dear to your heart, we hope you will consider the Welch and Katz Fund for future special gifts. These might include honoring someone important to you, using IRA minimum distributions, planning legacy gifts, or making gifts from donor advised funds. In addition, we hope you will continue to support our current budget needs through your annual support of Madagascar Programs Fund or our General Fund.
Giving Links
Donate to the Lemur Center’s Madagascar Programs Fund
Donate to the Lemur Center’s General Fund
Make a special gift to the Welch and Katz Fund
Explore more information about IRA RMD/QCD gifts, endowments and legacy gifts as important ways you can invest in the Duke Lemur Center’s mission!
Visit the Ways to Give page of our website for more options.
Questions? Contact Mary Paisley, Development Director, at mary.paisley@duke.edu or 919.401.7252. Thank you!