Fundraiser extraordinaire Becca Cason Thrash, as resourceful as she is relentless, loves to tear through French red tape like a champion sprinter rips across finish lines.
At the 2011 gala she organized in support of the Louvre, which had Janet Jackson performing after dinner and a Richard Prince joke painting up for auction, she was adamant that guests first sip Champagne on the balcony of what was once Napoléon III’s private apartments — even though museum officials insisted the doors could not be opened.
Over a two-month campaign, she made two trips to Paris from her native Texas to state her case — at her own expense — secretly procured an estimate from a supplier, and basically would not take “no” for an answer.
“I was like, ‘I’m bringing in $4 million: Get those damn doors unsealed for me,’” she said in her disarming drawl.
Thrash, whose latest project is a benefit gala at the Palace of Versailles planned for June 8, upholds a long tradition of American philanthropy in support of French cultural institutions.
Over the last 30 years she estimates that events she helped orchestrate have raised about $30 million for what she calls the “big three”: Versailles, the Louvre and Notre-Dame de Paris. (She has also done fundraising for more than 45 American nonprofits.)
“As Americans, we are born and raised to work hard, make money, pay taxes and give away what you can — do the right thing, basically,” she said in an interview. “It’s a feel good.”
As vice chairman of American Friends of the Louvre, chairman of Patrons for Notre-Dame de Paris, and distinguished honorary chair of the American Friends of Versailles, Thrash has also pioneered fundraising extravaganzas that offer guests rare experiences galore, and hence “bragging rights.”
Salon de Diane at the Palace of Versailles.
Sebastien GILES
“My driving motivation is to just be able to do something wonderful for the people that I bring — to show them something they’re otherwise not going to have access to,” she said. “It’s very rewarding to create something magical and wonderful.”
Thrash’s proof of concept came on a Tuesday night back in 2005, when she hosted a dinner to benefit the Louvre at her Houston home, wowing the museum’s then-head Henri Loyrette by pulling in $900,000, about $95,000 of that from a single auction lot offering a packet of tickets to haute couture shows.
“I just try to make it as win-win as I can for everybody, for the people that are attending, the people that are bidding, the people that are not bidding, and the beneficiary, which is the bottom line and the end result,” she said.
Lionel Sauvage, president of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, estimates that marquee French cultural institutions receive about 20 million euros a year from American donors — with up to a tenth of that flowing to Les Arts Décoratifs, prized for its fashion and design exhibitions.
Its blockbuster Art Deco-at-100 show wrapped its run last month and attracted more than 500,000 visitors, while its Iris Van Herpen retrospective recently alighted at the Brooklyn Museum, further elaborating on centuries of Franco-American friendship and cultural exchange.
“American donors tend to be a group of faithful individuals that give regularly,” Sauvage said in an interview. “They come to France on a regular basis. They come to visit our museum on a regular basis. They may be interested in fashion, some others in design.”
“The topic itself is very attractive,” agreed Les Arts Décoratifs’ chief executive officer Sophie-Justine Lieber. “And secondly, the museum is a private entity, even though we are heavily subsidized.…We really depend on the donations and on philanthropy, and I think our American friends know that.”
Lieber noted that about 30 percent of its visitors are international, which is lower than more famous museums like the Louvre, or Musée D’Orsay.
Sofia Coppola lent her cinematic touch to a 2025 fundraising ball at Les Arts Décoratifs.
Olivier Vaillant/Courtesy of Les Arts Décoratifs
Last year, Les Arts Décoratifs added a tentpole fundraiser, with its inaugural Bal d’Été art-directed by filmmaker Sofia Coppola, who made it a night to remember, from the lavish, hot pink table settings to the blistering performance by French rock band Phoenix. The next one is planned for 2028, given that 2027 is an election year in France, Lieber noted.
Thrash is in Paris gathering up unreal auction items for “A Legacy of Light,” which is expected to raise $3 million, earmarked for the painted ceiling of Le Salon de Diane, which required urgent restoration work.
Among the lots are a $150,000 David Yurman diamond bracelet, a Nile cruise for up to six guests on Christian Louboutin’s houseboat, and a safari for up to a dozen people at a game refuge in South Africa.
In the past, Thrash conducted the auctions by herself, cajoling regular American attendees to open their purse strings.
“They’re happy to be called by name and get in a bidding war,” she said. “We need new money, and we need these people that have made it, and they’re happy to give it back, and they’re happy to get their little moment of acknowledgement.”
The late French curator and art expert Gerald Van der Kemp is widely considered a key pioneer in mobilizing rich Americans to restore crumbling landmarks, starting with the Palace of Versailles after World War II, when Rockefellers, Lauders and Wildensteins opened their wallets alongside the Rothschilds, David-Weils and the Aga Khan.
The Palace of Versailles.
Sauvage noted that France is also the beneficiary of roughly 77 billion euros annually from tourism, with Americans representing about 10 percent of visitors.
“So I would say the biggest philanthropy to France is the share of those billions,” he said with a grin.
Pierre Dubreuil, director general of the Chambord national estate, agreed that America’s impact goes beyond donations.
“It is also crucial because of the ripple effect it can generate: the commitment of major international patrons often helps to mobilize other partners, both public and private, in France and abroad,” he said in an interview. “It also serves as a reminder that French heritage is part of a shared history and sensibility that extends far beyond our borders.”
The Château de Chambord, selected for a high jewelry event by Van Cleef & Arpels in 2024, has received more than 8 million euros in American donations since 2017.
“While American donors are few in number, they are among the most generous,” Dubreuil said, noting that Chambord’s principal patron is Blackstone chairman and CEO Stephen A. Schwarzman, who gave 3.5 million euros in 2017 for the restoration of the formal French gardens, and then 4 million euros in 2023 for the restoration of the upper reaches of the château.
The Château de Chambord in France’s Loire valley.
Olivier Marchant/Courtesy of Chambord
“Chambord is a national treasure, of great importance to both the cultural heritage and the French people, as well as to the international community,” Schwarzman commented.
Dubreuil’s latest project is the restoration of the château’s François I wing, expected to cost 37 million euros.
“The first phase is funded, but more than 20 million euros still needs to be raised,” he noted. “In this context, developing relationships with international patrons, particularly American ones, is a priority, as is developing a network of American Friends of Chambord.”
Among other mechanisms that facilitate transatlantic donations are Friends of Fondation de France and Myriad USA, as well as “American Friends” organizations that allow American donors to support French institutions within a favorable tax framework.
“Nationally, several organizations exemplify this dynamic: the American Friends of the Louvre, the Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris, the American Friends of the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée de l’Orangerie, and the French Heritage Society, which has been working for over 40 years to preserve French heritage,” Dubreuil said.