Sir

You suggest that combining science and outreach might help museums succeed in achieving the funding they need for research, in your Editorial 'Museums need two cultures', News story 'Smithsonian looks beyond ousted boss' and News Feature 'Endangered collections' (Nature 446, 583, 594 and 605–606; 2007). As the current and former heads of such institutions, we emphasize that this combination can succeed only if followed up with major fund-raising for endowments.

The slow growth in research funding is being countered with increases in the number of investigators. Moreover, cost recovery from grants never covers full institutional costs, and income from exhibitions barely covers the costs of the exhibitions themselves. Most museums, botanical gardens and related institutions are substantially under-endowed.

Recognizing this situation, the Visiting Committee for Smithsonian Science has called for a major campaign to build a new endowment of at least $1 billion. Without such a source of unencumbered funds, research and outreach in such institutions will starve. Institutions that have resisted this kind of fundraising, including the Smithsonian and the Academy of Natural Sciences, will continue to struggle financially.

Adequate endowment is particularly important for institutions with extensive and irreplaceable collections of biological specimens. It would be a tragedy if we did not capitalize on the knowledge we could gain by providing adequate funding for this research. Growing capital wealth in all parts of the world today means that there is a new opportunity to build the endowments for these unique institutions.