Impact & Benefits of MAP

Jump to some of our Impact Snapshots and Museum Success Stories below, or discover MAP museums near you!

Did You Know?

  • Nearly one-quarter of all museums in America have participated in MAP
  • Around 20,000 museum professionals have participated in MAP with their museum, as a peer reviewer, or both
  • Over 5,000 museums have participated in MAP since 1981
  • Over one-third of those museums have participated more than once
  • Museums from all 50 states have participated
  • 50% of all MAP participants are small museums
  • 60% of Alliance Accredited museums have participated in MAP
  • Peer reviewers have volunteered more than 150,000 hours and $3,150,000 of their time helping MAP museums since 1981

After participating in MAP, museums:

  • have an institutional roadmap or strategic plan
  • say the changes made as a result of MAP positively impacted visitor experience and/or community response to their museum
  • are better able to identify their strengths and challenges
  • create or update at least one museum policy
  • are better prepared to go through Accreditation, Reaccreditation or Core Document Verification
  • credit MAP for their success in fundraising

Data and Case Studies

Read more about MAP benefits and impact in this report summarizing the findings of a recent summative evaluation of MAP. If you’re not into the data, skip to the end to read the short case studies featuring how MAP helped change ten different institutions in the short and long term.

Impact Snapshots

Molly Brown House Museum in Denver, Colorado

Renton History Museum in Renton, Washington

Seward House Museum in Auburn, New York

MAP Museum Success Stories

An Interpretive Plan for a Castle in the Clouds

Assess for Success

After MAP, KidsPlay Children’s Museum Is Ready to Build Community Bridges

With the Help of MAP, the Manassas Museum Met Its Changing Community’s Needs

A Big COVID-19 Pivot: The Museum Assessment Program Goes Virtual

Leveraging MAP for Capacity Building: The Sierra Mono Museum experience

How the Science Museum of Minnesota Put its Collections and Research on the Map

Time to Reassess: A university art museum plans its next chapter with the MAP program

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