The Masterpiece Trust has received a $1 million gift from San Diego philanthropist Darlene Shiley. It’s the largest gift to date for the Trust, which was established in January 2011 to allow major donors to directly support the Masterpiece strand, and enable those donors to provide part of their gift to a local station. Half of Shiley’s gift, made on behalf of her and her late husband Donald, will go to KPBS in San Diego.
Shiley was one of the first donors to the Trust, with a previous gift of $250,000.
Other stations that have received a local portion of major gifts to the Trust include WNET, New York City; Vermont Public Television; WTCI, Chattanooga, Tenn.; WGBY, Springfield, Mass.; and WTTW, Chicago.
The PBS NewsHour recently revealed it is modeling a giving effort on Masterpiece Trust, to be called Friends of NewsHour.