New Jersey State Museum Foundation

Founded in 1968, the New Jersey State Museum Foundation (Foundation) is dedicated to ensuring the success and growth of the New Jersey State Museum (Museum) through a collaborative partnership with Museum Leadership, community stakeholders, and government representatives. The Foundation serves as the primary fundraiser and advocate for the Museum.

Established as a separate 501(c)3, the Foundation is committed to ensuring that the Museum has the ability to advance its mission and realize its vision through fundraising and support that offsets the limitations of the Museum’s state-appropriated budget. Since its founding, the Foundation has generated tens of millions of dollars in funding through grants, individuals and endowments in support of the Museum’s collections, programs and exhibitions. The impact of the Foundation is present in every area of the Museum. This private/public partnership is the cornerstone of our work and critical to achieving success for both organizations. Two of the Foundation’s most important programs, the Museum Shop and museum membership, are extensions of the visitor’s museum experience.

The New Jersey State Museum was established in 1895 as the first state museum in the United States with education as its core mission. The Museum is a center for the exploration of science, history and the arts. It preserves and shares stories that inspire curiosity and creativity for the enrichment of its communities. Today the Museum, which is a Division of the New Jersey Department of State, serves over 150,000 visitors annually through exhibitions, educational programs, and scholarly research by its renowned curators and staff. The Museum’s vast collections of more than 2.4 million specimens, objects, and artifacts are the largest collection in any New Jersey museum. For more information, visit the Museum’s website: www.statemuseum.nj.gov.

 While the Foundation and the Museum are working in sync to realize the same goals, the Foundation is not an internal department of the Museum, or of the State of New Jersey. The Foundation is a separate entity with its own board of trustees, staff and operations.