Support the Center
How You Can Help
Although The University of Texas gave the Center 27,500 square feet of space, and the College of Education has provided considerable help, more than 90% of the Center’s operating budget must be raised from private donations each year. The Center’s staff salaries, new acquisitions, preservation expenses, and the costs of new exhibitions come primarily from donated funds. While we are proud to have been able to build the Stark Center and to keep it open for these past ten years through private funding, our most important goal now is to boost the endowments of the Center to a level that will allow it to be self-sustaining in perpetuity. To do this, we need your support.
There are many ways you can help the Stark Center—by making financial contributions that support our operating budget, by making contributions to our Endowment, by leaving a bequest to the Stark Center in your will, or by Supporting Our Collections through the donation of items such as books, photographs, art, scrapbooks and archival materials related to physical culture and sports. All of these gifts allow the Stark Center to fulfill our mission of preservation, education, and the advancement of scholarship in the fields of Physical Culture and Sport Studies and we are deeply grateful to all our donors. Several individuals, foundations, and companies have donated substantial financial and endowment support to the Stark Center; click here to read more about them.
Make a Financial Contribution & Help Build Our Endowment
We are proud that the Stark Center was built by and has been maintained with private funding. The direct financial gifts donated to the Center are applied to our annual operating budget, covering expense such as salaries, supplies, and acquisitions.
In 2017, The Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation in Orange, Texas, donated $1.5M to the Stark Center with the express purpose of covering operating expenses, which allows us to focus our fundraising efforts on growing our endowment funds. We are grateful to the Stark Foundation for their support as we work to create a stable financial future.
An endowment gift is placed in an investment account that earns interest and grows in value over time. At UT-Austin part of the interest can be spent each year to cover operational expenses but the other portion of the interest is reinvested in the principal so the fund grows larger and earns even more interest in future years.
We plan to increase our endowment to a level that generates enough annual interest to cover our annual budget, making the Center self-sustaining in perpetuity. It is our most important goal.
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Support our Operating Budget
We also welcome, of course, unrestricted donations that go directly into our operating budget or donations that are earmarked for specific activities—like the preservation of important collections. Please keep in mind that donations do not need to be made all at once. Donations may be made in installments: a $1000 donation is only $83.33 per month for 12 months. A $6000 donation could be paid by donating $500 a month for 12 months, or by making 4 quarterly payments of $1500.
Because of our non-profit status, donations to the Stark Center can be helpful in off-setting capital gains taxes, estate taxes, and even annual income taxes if you normally take deductions. We are happy to talk about options with you.
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Support the Endowment
You can choose to ask that your contribution be added to the Center’s existing endowments or, if your gift is of sufficient size, you can ask that it bear your name or be named to honor someone important to you. At present, contributions can be made to any of these pre-existing endowment accounts:
The Joe and Betty Weider Physical Culture Fund—supports the Weider Museum and the preservation of bodybuilding history.
The Clyde Rabb Littlefield Endowed Excellence Fund for the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center—supports the annual Littlefield Lecture and other general operations.
The Coach Clyde Littlefield Endowed Excellence Fund for the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center— supports general operations.
The Terry and Jan Todd Endowed Excellence Fund—supports the collections of the Center and general operations. This fund was created from the donation made in honor of our founder, Terry Todd.
The H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sport Endowed Excellence Fund—supports the general operations of the Center.
If you wish to create a new endowment, please contact Stark Center Director Jan Todd to discuss the various options available to you. Some financial gifts may also qualify for naming opportunities within The Center. We are, for example, looking for naming-level donors for the Sports Gallery, Reading Room, and Lobby areas.
Mail a Contribution
If you’d like to mail your contribution, please send a personal check made out to “University of Texas – Stark Center” to:
Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports
University of Texas at Austin
403 East Deloss Dodds Way, NEZ 5.700
Austin, TX 78712
For more information on giving to the University of Texas contact:
College of Education
University of Texas at Austin
1912 Speedway
Austin, TX 78712
- Contribute to the Endowment
- Financial Gifts
- Preservation and Exhibits
- Planned Giving
- Materials
- Volunteer
Endowment earnings come from financial gifts (or gifts of property that UT can sell to generate funds) that are invested so that the principal is not normally touched and the fund continues to grow while the Stark Center uses a portion of the interest earned by the account to cover operational expenses. (Endowments normally pay 4.5 to 5% a year to the recipient of the gift so a $1M gift generates approximately $45K to $50K in its first year—and then grows incrementally in the years ahead.)
Endowments can be named in honor of the donor(s) or, they can be used to honor someone the donors feel warrants remembering. Once established, other donors can also donate to existing endowment accounts if they so choose.
Our current goal for the Stark Center is to reach $10M in endowment funds so that the Center’s basic operational expenses will be guaranteed into the future.
A 2017 grant of $1.5M from the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation in Orange, Texas, has made it possible for us to focus our efforts over the next several years to pursuing this quest.
Please consider donating now to our current endowment funds:
1) The Roy J. McLean Centennial Fellowship
2) The Joe Weider Physical Culture Fund
Or, our newest endowment fund—
3) The Terry and Jan Todd Excellence Fund
Or, consider establishing a new endowment to honor yourself, your family, a friend, someone you admire, or some other entity. For more information, on endowments, please contact THE DIRECTOR.
Financial gifts can be made in a variety of ways to the Stark Center. The simplest way is simply to click on the button below to go to our credit-card donations page. Feel free to write a note if you have special requests for the use of your funds.
Or, you can mail a personal check made out to ”University of Texas-Stark Center” and send it to:
Jan Todd, Director, Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports,
North End Zone Suite 5.700
403 East 23rd Street
The University of Texas,
Austin, TX 78712
Larger financial donations can also be paid over time. Attached is a pledge form (pdf attached–to be made) so that we will know to expect your contribution each month, quarter, or other period you wish to specify. A $20,000 donation, for example, could be paid over 12 months by sending $1666 per month. A $1000 donation is only $83.33 per month for 12 months. A $1000 donation to the Stark, however, would be a huge help in covering our preservation costs.
Remember, because of our non-profit status, donations to the Stark Center can be helpful in off-setting capital gains taxes, estate taxes, and even annual income taxes if you normally take deductions. We are happy to talk options with you at any time.
For more information about supporting The H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports, please contact the Director, Jan Todd, at (512) 471-0993 or at email.
For additional information on tax-free giving to The University of Texas, contact: David Onion, Vice-President for Development at: onion@austin.utexas.edu; or 512-471-8178. Mr. Onion may also be reached by mail at: The University of Texas at Austin, P.O. Box 7458, Austin, TX 78713.
One of the most costly parts of our work at the Stark center is the sorting, archiving and preserving of collections. Over the past several years, in particular, we’ve received several significant collections that you may want to consider supporting:
1. The Coach Augie Garrido Baseball Collection (papers, memorabilia, photographs and other ephemera) from UT-Baseball coach, Augie Garrido. We are looking for funds to not only properly house his large collection in conservation materials—but, also to mount an exhibition in our Stark Center galleries.
2. The Tommy Kono Collection—Two-time Olympic gold medalist Tommy Kono’s 50 boxes of materials relate to his time as a weightlifter and national team coach (for Mexico 1968, Germany 1972, USA 1976, and the U.S. Women’s World Championship team from 1987-1989). His vast collection will need archival processing, and it could easily take one archivist an entire year to sort, properly process, and house this wonderful collection in acid-free conservation materials.
3. The Doris Barrilleaux Collection—A pioneering figure in women’s bodybuilding, Barrilleaux was also an important physique photographer who shot most of the great bodybuilders of the 1970s and 1980s. Following her death in May of 2018, her family donated her photographic archives to the Center. Although well organized, we need funds for conservation materials to house this massive and important gift.
There are also many ways that gifts can be made to support the Stark Center that do not require you to give away money right now. You may want to consider a contribution to The Stark Center’s future by planning for a special gift in your will, or make a gift of cash after property is sold to offset capital gains taxes as your estate is settled; by donating stocks you may hold; or, by turning over to the Center an investment account following your demise. Another easy way to assist the Stark Center, is to name the Center as a beneficiary on your retirement plan, IRA, or life insurance policy. As a non-profit entity, all gifts to the Stark Center are tax-deductible and at certain levels, could lower your tax liability in a given year. There are many creative and flexible planned giving options that can actually benefit you and the Stark Center. We’ll be happy to connect you to UT’s Development officers who will work with you on the best plan for your needs.
The Todd-McLean Collection has been at UT since 1983, and its growth has been significantly augmented by the donation from private individuals of books, magazines, photographs, scrapbooks, correspondence, manuscript files, posters, trophies, paintings, training equipment, artifacts, and other items. If you have materials related to the history of physical culture, exercise, or alternative medicine or materials related to the history of sports at UT or elsewhere that you would be interested in donating or loaning to the Stark Center, please contact us via our emails below or by calling 512-471-4890.
For the University of Texas students and any others who would like to be considered for a fieldwork position at the Stark Center, you must submit a signed and completed application form. All applications should be completed and submitted to Kim Beckwith by e-mail or hand-delivered.
