Giving
Happy Holidays from the Shaker Historical Society!
This past summer, we received a donation of $70. While we are grateful for all donations, this one was truly special. A second grader named Ana visited the museum with her class from Laurel School, and even at her young age, she recognized the importance of preserving stories from the past. Ana raised the money from her lemonade stand and donated all of her proceeds to Shaker Historical. Her thoughtfulness and initiative inspire us all—lemonade and history truly make a great pairing!
Founded by passionate community members dedicated to the preservation and discovery of local history, the Shaker Historical Society remains steadfast in its core purpose of connecting people of all ages with the past. We are so grateful to you, our supporters, for equipping us to provide history education opportunities to over 250 students this year—our highest level of student engagement since 2018—and reaching an additional 1,000 people through our programs, events, and exhibitions.
As we look ahead to 2025, we aim to expand our reach and impact even further, but we can only achieve this with the continued support of our community. Will you join Ana in helping us share the undertold stories of Shaker Heights?
Your gift helps us fulfill our mission to inspire curiosity and foster engagement across diverse communities by exploring the people, events, and stories that have shaped our local history. As we look to the past for guidance in shaping the future, your support has never been more vital.
I hope you can consider a tax-deductible gift to the Shaker Historical Society today. Together, we can provide students like Ana with meaningful opportunities to connect with the past as they step boldly into the future.
With gratitude,
Brianna Treleven, Executive Director
P.S. Did you know that you can amplify the impact of your support with a recurring donation? Choose to become a monthly or quarterly sustainer at givebutter.com/shakerhistory.
I'd like my donation to directly support...
Internships
We believe in offering paid internships to help make SHS a more equitable and practical option for students looking to gain hands-on experience at a small museum. You can help us grow our internship program by sponsoring an internship.
Shaker Historical Society host 1-2 interns per year to help current undergraduate and graduate students gain hands-on experience through resume-building projects. Our interns have developed physical and digital exhibits, completed important collections inventories and surveys, and organized our institutional archives, among other projects.
Questions? Contact director@shakerhistory.org
Exhibitions
Exhibitions require extensive time, labor, and supplies through research, physical preparation of the galleries, and installation. You can support high-quality exhibitions at SHS by sponsoring an exhibit to help offset resources devoted to each physical and digital exhibition.
Questions? Contact director@shakerhistory.org
Collections
SHS's collections span over 200 years and items number in the thousands. The majority of our collections are not inventoried or digitized, but we have made significant progress in recent years with intern and grant support. The best way to support collections is by sponsoring an internship or donating a collections-focused grant match. Please contact collections@shakerhistory.org for more information about these opportunities.
Education
Educational support is needed on an ad hoc basis as SHS builds programs and strengthens relationships with both public and private schools through tours and classroom visits. Please contact education@shakerhistory.org for more information about current and upcoming opportunities, including our "Museum in a Box" program currently in development thanks to financial support from the Arminius Foundation.
Major Events
In 2022, we established the Shaker Soirée, a new summer fundraiser inspired by Gracious Gardens, and AppleFest, a revival of a 1990s fall festival. These continue to be our two major events each year with the goal of mid-year fundraising and "friendraising" to financially support our mission and to connect with current and potential members and to grow our audience.
We continually seek corporate, family, and individual support to make these events possible. If you are interested in supporting the Shaker Soirée or AppleFest, please contact director@shakerhistory.org to learn more.
Staff and Operations
Our programs, exhibits, and events are not possible without operational expenses. While not glamorous, these are the basic needs of the organization—the small team that carries out this work must get paid, and the museum can only be visited if we have heat and light! One of the easiest ways to support our operations is to donate to our endowment, established in the early 1970s. If you are interested in growing our endowment, please contact director@shakerhistory.org to learn more.