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Foster Lifelong Learning
The Virginia Discovery Museum has been a vital community resource for families in the Charlottesville-Albemarle region for more than 40 years, and since 1981, our nonprofit Museum has relied on the generosity of friends and neighbors, businesses, and foundations to foster lifelong learning among children of all backgrounds. VDM is committed to accessibility and inclusivity, and 28 percent of the Museum’s 64,000 annual visitors are admitted free of charge, including nearly 10,300 underserved community members through our Sponsored Admission Program alone. Your financial support ensures that our youngest community members have a vibrant, diverse, clean, and safe space filled with educational and playful opportunities for discovery, cognitive development, and social interaction, regardless of a family’s ability to pay admission.
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How Does My Gift Help?
Community Outreach
The Museum seeks to expand its reach in the community through more off-site programming in schools and at community partner organizations, particularly in support of babies and new families, a growing demographic in our region.
Your Gift: Helps VDM develop new outreach programs and curriculum, stock high-quality educational supplies and components, and cover the costs associated with travel and transportation.
Sponsored Admission
The Museum is working to ensure that it remains a resource for all families in our community. In FY 2024, VDM’s Sponsored Admission Program grew from 12 percent to 16 percent of overall admissions, accounting for nearly 10,300 visitors. This marked the biggest increase in program usage in VDM’s history and is an indicator of how vital the Museum is to the 63 social service agencies that refer families for free-of-charge learning and childhood development support.
Your Gift: Helps VDM keep the Sponsored Admission vibrant for qualifying visitors and partner organizations, expand its benefits to new organizations, and indirectly support the critical work of those agencies.
Field Trips, Programs & Scholarships
The Museum continues to provide enrichment and learning opportunities on-site by hosting school and small group field trips and offering educational programs throughout the year, including free-with-admission drop-in classes for babies to children age 8, half-day camps for children 4 to 8, multi-week chess series for children 6 to 10, and various holiday and collaborative programs with community partners.
Your Gift: Helps VDM stock craft supplies, STEM components, and other educational materials; introduce new programs; provide scholarships for fee-based classes and camps; and keep field trip costs low for local schools and community groups.
Exhibit Maintenance & Development
The Museum currently maintains several hands-on educational play areas over 6,000 square feet of exhibit space. Each exhibit is designed to engage children cognitively, physically, and socially, and our staff seeks to foster an environment in which children learn through exploratory and imaginative play and collaborative problem-solving.
Your Gift: Helps VDM keep exhibit components in working order, create new exhibit spaces, and ensure a safe and clean environment where children can enjoy exploratory and imaginative play.
Ways to Give
Thank you for supporting the Museum’s mission of fostering intellectual curiosity and development for all children in our community. VDM is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Online
Click the link and follow the prompts to make an online donation using a credit or debit card.
By Mail
Complete a donor card and mail to Virginia Discovery Museum, P.O. Box 1128, Charlottesville, VA 22902. Checks payable to “Virginia Discovery Museum.”
Contact Us
Can’t find the answer you’re looking for? Contact Director of Operations Lindsay Jones at (434) 977-1025 x102 or operationsdirector@vadm.org to learn more about how you can support the Virginia Discovery Museum.