The New York Times has a story about the financial troubles at the Museum of the Earth and the Paleontological Research Institution in Ithaca, N.Y. The institution was establish almost 100 years ago and has amassed one of the largest collections of fossils in North America.

“No one has ever experienced trying to rehouse a collection like this,” said Warren Allmon, the director of the institution and a professor of paleontology at Cornell University. “If we had to close, there would be no one institution that could take all the collection.”

For decades, the museum has relied on a single, anonymous donor who provided $20 million, and pledged $30 million in the future, to pay its mortgage and establish an endowment. But in 2022, the promised payments dried up as the benefactor experienced financial struggles.

In response to the sudden shortfall, P.R.I. halved its budget and staff in 2024. Later that year, fearing imminent closure, Dr. Allmon publicized the institution’s woes. The news inspired an avalanche of donations, including a $1 million gift from an unnamed Cornell alum.