The only restriction again made by Lundgren is that if the museum should close or cease operations, her contributions to the endowment will be transferred to another specified endowment, either the Angel Fund or the University of California Veterinary School at Davis.When the endowment was first established, the city said it would retain a professional investment advisor to manage the investment of the assets of the fund, subject to final approval of the Council, and annual investment expenses will be capped at 1 percent of the total assets of the fund. The fund will be docked for its own costs, and any costs to the city in accepting, transferring, or managing property donated to museum endowment.
Additional $20K donated to Oil Museum endowment
August 30, 2000
Santa Paula News
A woman who has already greatly enhanced the California Oil Museum of Santa Paula through her donations of rare, and classic, gas pumps as well as the seed money to start a museum endowment, has done it again.
“Carolyn Lundgren is generously making a second gift of $20,000 to the museum endowment fund,” noted Community Services Director Brian Yanez in a report to the City Council on Aug. 21.It was almost exactly a year ago that Lundgren appeared before the City Council to present the first $20,000 which created the endowment fund. Just months earlier, Lundgren had donated her late husband’s valuable collection of vintage gasoline pumps and related memorabilia to the museum; Harry Lundgren was a noted collector and gas station pumps and memorabilia were among his favorites. The pumps are now on permanent exhibit at the museum and are a favorite of visitors.Fattening the museum’s endowment fund was one of the reasons that the city changed its name from the Santa Paula Union Oil Museum to the California Oil Museum of Santa Paula: when the museum was publicly affiliated with its owner, Unocal Corp., it was seen as an impediment to garnering donations from other corporations and organizations.As the endowment grows, the cost to the city of museum operations will decrease, according to Yanez’s report to the council.Museums typically draw financial support for their operations from a variety of sources, especially from supporters and donors. Donors can make gifts in many ways ranging from cash to real estate, among other methods. Interest from an endowment is considered income while the principal remains untouched.
