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ASSOCIATES PROGRAMS

Founded in 1965 on the 200th birthday of James Smithson, the original Associates Program was designed especially for residents of the Washington metropolitan area, drawing on the varied resources of the Institution to provide educational and cultural opportunities to individuals or families who chose to join. The larger institutional aims in public education, however, have always been to make Smithsonian resources increasingly accessible to people of all ages and without regard to their geographical distance from the National Mall. With the establishment of the [[underlined]]Smithsonian[[/underlined]] Magazine in April 1970 as a major benefit and feature of a membership program, the original Smithsonian Associate Program has evolved now to include separate National and Resident organizations which offer educational and learning experiences geared to public constituencies in the Washington area, as well as across the country.

This chapter covers recent performance, plans, changes in activities, and resource estimates for Associates programs, including the National and Resident Associate Programs, the Office of Membership and Development which coordinates these programs, and the Magazine.

[[underlined]]Current Resources and Support[[/underlined]]

These trust-funded operations had FY 1980 auxiliary activity revenues totaling approximately $44,800,000 and 145 employees. Minor amounts were also available from special purpose funds, restricted gifts and grants and from federal grants and contracts. As a group they generated approximately $5,800,000 in unrestricted trust income for the Institution in FY 1980 after cost of sales, payroll, and other operating expenses. Gross expenses for unrestricted trust auxiliary operations amounted to about $39,000,000.

The Resident Associate Program offers a variety of popular classes, lectures, tours and other activities for members in the metropolitan Washington area. It has been self-supporting since 1972, generating modest surpluses each year which are added to the unrestricted funds of the Institution.

Elements of the National Associate are the educational travel services, the contributing membership program, the regional events program, and the selected studies seminars. The National Associate Program is not expected to produce net income except for the travel and contributing membership programs.

The fund-raising and administrative costs of the Office of Membership and Development are considered as an expense item against unrestricted funds. Contributions to the Smithsonian in FY 1980 approximated $2,300,000 from corporations and foundations. This figure does not include the contributing membership program, contributions from the members of the James Smithson Society, nor contributions toward the Quadrangle project.