There are a number of creative ways to fund your cost share, many that help you build stronger relationships in your community. Once you have identified a potential funding source, you can personalize the Funding Support Template to suit your needs. Following are some examples of potential funding sources:
Accessing State or Local Government Funds
- Many states offer small to medium-sized grants for museums interested in participating in an assessment process. Pay close attention to grant deadlines when applying for these funds since the timing of applying for MAP and receiving funds from your state is critical.
- Investigate whether funds to support your museum's MAP assessment can be included as a line item in the city or county budget, or whether the mayor or county manager has discretionary funds they can allocate for this purpose.
Funding from Friends Group
- Ask a member of your governing authority or a major donor to "sponsor" the museum's participation in the assessment process. Explain to them the importance of the assessment process and how the benefits will assist the museum in its desire to change and improve.
- Ask several businesses or individuals to each contribute $100 if you can't identify a single donor to underwrite the full amount.
- A good variant on this theme is asking someone who has donated significant material to the collections to fund the museum's participation in a Collections Management Assessment in order to safeguard their collections gifts.
- Do a special solicitation of members specifying that funds will go to supporting the museum's participation in the MAP program to help make the museum better.
- If your museum has a Friends group, ask them to either sponsor an event to raise money or to directly cover the cost of your participation in MAP.
Approaching Your Local Community
- Contact your local Chamber of Commerce and/or Convention and Visitors Bureau. Ask if they have funding available to develop cultural tourism. Explain how participation in the assessment process will help your museum attract more visitors and contribute to local tourism. This is an especially good match for those participating in Public Dimension Assessment.
- Hold a small fundraising event and publicize that the proceeds will support the museum's participation in the MAP program and help make the museum a better place to visit.
- Ask a community group to sponsor your participation in MAP (e.g., DAR, Rotary).
- Research local, corporate, or family foundations, especially those with a focus on supporting the local nonprofit infrastructure (Institutional Assessment, Governance Assessment, or Collections Management Assessment) or community development (Public Dimension Assessment). Some communities have funds that support economic development, cultural activity, or education.
- Ask the school district or parent-teacher group (e.g., PTA, PTO) to sponsor your participation in MAP in order to strengthen your museum's ability to support the local school's educational programming.
