Museum of the Earth seeks donations to pay mortgage amid deep financial woes

The Museum of the Earth, a natural history museum and research facility in upstate New York, is seeking donations to pay off its mortgage amid deep financial woes threatening the institution’s survival.

The museum, more than a local Ithaca attraction, hosts a major fossil collection. But its educational resources and the research operations of its parent nonprofit, the Paleontological Research Institution, remain under threat after a large donor pledge, reported to be more than $30 million, did not come through in 2023.

Management announced in December 2023 that the PRI was facing financial challenges and would be implementing a “strategic downsizing plan” that included laying off half of its staff and decreased exhibitions and program offerings, among other measures.

In January, after local news reports on the museum’s struggles, management clarified that it had no plans on closing and had not been placed into foreclosure but that there was a real risk they would not be able to cover the mortgage and “other critical costs.”

At some point, the museum launched an online donation campaign to help it reach its $3.2 million fundraising goal and has so far raised more than $2.1 million. The bulk of that came in from two separate $1 million donations in January and May.

“There is still important work ahead. We need to raise more than $500,000 in unrestricted funds during fiscal year 2025–26 to support our ongoing operations,” the Museum of the Earth announced in a news release last month. According to The Ithaca Times, the museum needs to raise $1 million to avoid foreclosure by December 31.

“But we have made remarkable progress this year and remain deeply committed to our mission, thanks to the unwavering generosity, enthusiasm, and belief of our community.”

The PRI’s finances once relied heavily on a single anonymous benefactor who contributed about $20 million over two decades to support the organization and complete construction of the Museum of the Earth in 2003, director Warren Allmon told The Ithaca Times.

Allmon told the newspaper that the institution’s current crisis began around 2022, when the donor defaulted on an additional $30 million in pledged support. The donor had also been paying the museum’s mortgage, but those payments stopped in August 2023, leaving PRI to face the debt on its own.

PRI went a year without making mortgage payments while attempting to restore support from the donor, maintaining what Allmon described as a flexible arrangement with a local bank. The bank sold the loan to an Arizona-based holding company in December 2024, board member Dan Karig told The Ithaca Times, and the debt is now accruing 13% interest.

Allmon said PRI reached a deal to pay only interest through the end of 2025 on the condition that it fully retires the debt—now about $3 million—by the end of the year.

In case the Museum of the Earth is forced to close, its staff have been cataloging the roughly 7 to 10 million fossils in its collection and discussing possible transfers with institutions such as the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.