Thank you for your support!
With help from generous friends like you, Cranbrook Institute of Science advances scientific literacy, nurtures curiosity, and encourages advocacy for the natural and cultural worlds in which we live.
Your support plays an essential role in helping the Institute of Science fulfill its mission by funding its programs and operations, exhibits, and a variety of Institute-wide programs.
You are a crucial link between the Institute of Science and its diverse public. Programs and hands-on activities for youth and families, teens, adults, community organizations, school groups, educators, and visitors are made possible – often at no cost – to the public through the generosity of donors like you. Contributions in any amount are welcome and provide important, direct support to annual program costs.
As a nonprofit, your support is critical to our success. From special exhibitions and programs to statewide outreach educational programs, your gift makes a difference every day!
Fund Descriptions
Institute of Science Fund
The Institute of Science Fund provides valuable support for the Institute's programs and operations, including exhibitions, educational initiatives, and the care of our collection of nearly 200,000 objects and artifacts.
Astronomy Fund
The Astronomy Fund provides continuous support for the Institute’s Observatory, Acheson Planetarium, Acheson Mobile Planetarium, and astronomy-related programs. Funds allow the Institute’s astronomy team to keep its onsite and offsite features and educational content relevant and innovative, and to ensure critical hardware, software, and infrastructural improvements and enhancements can be made each year.
Cranbrook Cares
The Cranbrook Cares initiative brings young cancer patients and their families to the Institute of Science at a time when they need it most – during their treatment for cancer. Through this unique program, young cancer patients and their families enjoy the Institute privately several times each year, away from the crowds, with transportation and lunch provided.
Institute Education and Outreach
The Education and Outreach Fund provides educational programs via field trips to CIS and outreach programs in classrooms across the state. Dollars offset the cost of transportation, museum admission, curriculum development, program delivery, and supplies for thousands of participating students from underserved communities each year.
Earth Science Fund
The Earth Science Fund supports efforts related to storing, curating, and utilizing the Institute’s earth science collections. Additionally, dollars allow for the acquisition of earth science specimens for inclusion in the Institute’s permanent collection. New acquisitions can include specimens from the fields of geology, mineralogy, and paleontology.
Institute Exhibit Fund
The Exhibits Fund at Cranbrook Institute of Science creates a continuous foundation of support to remediate, rejuvenate, and renovate the gallery spaces within the museum in terms of content, theme, and style. Dollars allow the Institute’s exhibition team to keep its onsite features relevant and innovative, and to ensure critical hardware, software, and infrastructural improvements and enhancements can be made each year.
Send a Child to CIS Camp
The Send a Child to CIS Camp fund provides need-based scholarships for students to attend the Institute’s annual Explore Camp experience. Explore Camps give inquisitive campers the support they need to learn through doing. Campers work together to tackle activities, experiments, and investigations as they explore popular science topics in a unique and safe environment. A gift of $495 will cover the cost of one student attending a week of camp.
Gifts of Securities and Other Non-Cash Assets
If you are interested in giving from a non-cash asset, such as appreciated securities, a gift from your IRA, or a grant from your donor-advised fund, please contact Kristin Hermann at khermann@cranbrook.edu.
To find out more about supporting Cranbrook Institute of Science, please contact kthomakos@cranbrook.edu.