BHL Transition Update #6: Fundraising Campaign – Support the Future of Open Biodiversity Knowledge

The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is launching a new public fundraising campaign to help us navigate our transition to independence. This is our first major campaign since the announcement that the Smithsonian Institution can no longer host BHL beyond 2025. Your support now is more critical than ever to secure BHL’s future.

For nearly two decades, BHL has provided free and open access to the world’s biodiversity literature: over 63 million pages from libraries, museums, herbaria, and research institutions across the globe. Since receiving the news that the Smithsonian Institution will cease hosting BHL on 1 January 2026, the global BHL consortium has worked tirelessly to build a foundation for a more autonomous, sustainable, and truly international future. 

With the launch of this campaign, we’re inviting our global community, individuals and institutions alike, to be part of that transformation. 

This campaign builds upon the Call for Support issued earlier this year, which brought together organizations and individuals who expressed their support for BHL’s mission and transition . The public fundraising campaign now extends that invitation to everyone who values open knowledge and biodiversity conservation. We will also continue to welcome institutional partnerships and offers of support from across the global community.

Increased independence will allow BHL to evolve into a more resilient and distributed model, one that reflects the consortium’s global nature. But independence also means that BHL will now rely far more on donations, grants, and external support to sustain its work.

Donations will help cover the real costs of growing and sustaining BHL: expanding our collection, maintaining and improving our technical infrastructure, integrating BHL data into global biodiversity infrastructures, and funding the dedicated staff who make it all possible.

You can now donate directly through our website, with options to make one-time or recurring gifts. Every contribution, no matter the size, will help preserve and connect the world’s biodiversity heritage for generations to come.

We’ll also run themed fundraising drives throughout the year, including Giving Tuesday, Library Lovers’ Day, Earth Day, International Biodiversity Day, and other global events celebrating the importance of shared knowledge in protecting life on Earth.

In addition to individual donations, we invite foundations, philanthropic partners, and legacy donors to join us in shaping BHL’s next chapter. Your investment will help ensure that open access to biodiversity knowledge endures for generations to come.

If you would like to make a major contribution, through a large donation, wire transfer, or bequest, or explore other ways of giving, please visit our Ways to Give page for more information. We welcome conversations with individuals and organizations interested in sustaining BHL’s mission long-term through endowments or planned giving.

All donations will be processed securely through the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), BHL’s fiscal sponsor, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Your support, individual or institutional, will help BHL weather this transition and emerge stronger than ever. Together, we can ensure that the foundation of our understanding of biodiversity remains freely accessible to everyone, everywhere.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

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