Your Numbers Count,
so Please Participate in MFI
The deadline for participating in the survey has now passed.
Thank you to all the museums that responded!
The survey questionnaire is still available here as a reference.
The published survey results will be available in Spring 2009.
About MFI
Starting in November 2008, AAM conducted its latest Museum Financial Information (MFI) survey. Since 1997, this triennial survey has provided the most detailed picture available of museum finances and operations in the United States. The 2008 MFI survey covered a variety of financial topics, including institutional demographics, museum attendance, membership, income and expenses, funding sources, web-based operations, and new building construction, renovation and expansion.
Individual museums rely on the results for benchmarking and strategic planning, as a unique tool for comparing themselves to museums of similar type, governance, or size. (They also use the comparative information to advocate for greater funding at the state and local level.) Researchers, policymakers, and the press rely on the results to help them understand museums and museum trends. Groups that monitor nonprofit accountability look to the MFI as a baseline of information about our field. Funding agencies use the results to inform their grant-making. AAM uses the information to serve its members—and to speak up for all museums, whether in the press or the nation’s capital.
In a recent survey, a majority of AAM members said that "AAM provides me with the kinds of information I need to do my job." More than a quarter said that "access to the most up to date information about the field" is the most important service that AAM provides to museums. The MFI survey is the most important source of that information.
Benchmarking
Here are examples of data breakouts from the 2005 Museum Financial Survey by discipline, governance and size. The results were published in Elizabeth Merritt, ed., 2006 Museum Financial Information.
MFI in the Press
Here are some examples of how the press has relied on data from the last Museum Financial Information survey to provide an accurate picture of the museum field:
How to Participate
The participation period has now ended. Note that all museums that complete the 2008 survey will receive a 10% discount on the published report and advanced access to benchmarking data. Museums that also participated in the previous two MFI surveys will receive a free copy of the printed report.
Contact Philip M. Katz at pkatz@aam-us.org for more information about the survey.
