Marshals Museum fundraising effort to include Bill Clinton

Former President Bill Clinton is one reason Sandi Sanders remains optimistic about the Herculean effort to raise up to $50 million in a local and nationwide campaign for the U.S. Marshals Museum.

She recently stepped down from the day-to-day job of Museum Project Director — a post now held by Jim Dunn — to accept the role of vice chair of the U.S. Marshals Museum Foundation Board so she can better assist the museum staff with local and national fundraising. The Museum board recently hired Barbara Harvel as director of development to lead the fundraising effort.

In January 2007, the U.S. Marshals Service selected Fort Smith as the site for the national museum. The U.S. Marshals Museum board of directors and staff are underway with what will be a $30 million to $50 million national fundraising effort. It’s been estimated the fundraising effort could take up to 7 years. The roughly 50,000-square-foot museum will be built in downtown Fort Smith next to the Arkansas River.

In an interview with The City Wire, Sanders spoke of a chance for a “major fundraising announcement” to happen in late November.

And although the fundraising is a private effort, Sanders did reveal that former President Bill Clinton has agreed to serve as the ceremonial host of a private reception for the U.S. Marshals Museum at the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion in Little Rock. The invitation-only event will be held Dec. 18, and will seek to attract individuals who may directly or indirectly donate more than $1 million.

Sanders said the reception is just one example of the “hard work and extensive research” going on behind the scenes to support the construction and operations of the U.S. Marshals Museum. Sanders stressed that regional and state donations are actively sought in addition to national donors.

“It’s often important to them (potential national donors) that we at the local or at the state level are supporting this,” Sanders explained. “That’s why it’s so important to have her (Barbara Harvel) because she has such broad connections in the state.”

The national campaign includes working through the “large list” of companies (vendors) that have large contracts with the U.S. Marshals Service. By working with former U.S. Marshals who may now work with a vendor, the museum hopes to improve its chances with a donation request. Sanders and other members of the Foundation Board also learn as much as possible about the CEO’s of the vendor companies with the hope of gaining an inside edge.

“So you can see, there is a tremendous amount of research that has to happen first,” Sanders said.

The effort also includes research into national foundations who have a history of supporting law enforcement projects, general education efforts and/or that primarily support museum development, Sanders said. The research shows that it’s a matter of timing with many foundations.

“Some (foundations) want to fund the last (one) fourth of the effort,” she explained. “There are foundations that first want to see a lot of interest, and so they may want to know you have raised 50% or more before they will look at you.”

Overall, Sanders said the prospects look good, and she admitted to being frustrated that the effort requires such extreme sensitivity to the privacy wishes of potential donors.

“It’s a very private affair as to what we are doing, but we do hope to make some announcements as we can,” Sanders said.