Posts
Financial Sustainability
Explore dozens of articles, member resources, and On-Demand Programs on financial sustainability in museums.
To B Corps or not to B Corps—A Case Study
Some people think that because museums are nonprofits, they are not allowed to make money. Cue my mantra: nonprofit is a tax status, not a business strategy. A financially successful …
Companies with Benefits, Part 2: B Corps or not B Corps, that is the question
Tuesday I blogged about Benefit Corporations—a relatively new kind of “hybrid” legal structure for mission-driven for-profits. Today’s post is about B Corps—companies participating in a …
Companies with Benefits, Part 1: Benefit Corporations
I’m going to ask you to bear with me as I engage in some deep, extended geeking about business models in coming weeks, via a series of essays and guest posts exploring changes in business …
The Witte Museum – A Catalyst for San Antonio on the Rise
Laura Lott is the President and CEO of the American Alliance of Museums. Have you heard about The New Witte? When you take the bold step of investing nearly $100 million in entirely …
Philanthropy in the Age of Scale: MacArthur Foundation 100&Change
Last year the MacArthur Foundation launched 100&Change—a competition for a $100 million grant to fund a single proposal to make measurable progress toward solving a significant …
Build it and will they come? Co-working considerations for Museums
Tui Te Hau At the [2017] AAM Annual Meeting, I hope to see you at the session I’ll be moderating on the emerging trend of museums running business incubators and co-working spaces (Sunday, …
Why Not To Run Your Museum “More Like A Business”
This article originally appeared in the May/June 2017 issue of Museum magazine. Many elements that make businesses successful do not work for museums. First, some relevant credentials. I …
Ask, Don’t Guess: How a visitor-centered business model led to record-breaking attendance for a historic house in Oregon.
This article originally appeared in the May/June 2017 issue of Museum magazine. Built in 1914 by an influential Portland newspaper publisher, Pittock Mansion has a story similar to that of …
Effective Altruism
Today’s post by Susie Wilkening is the first in a series profiling sessions I picked for CFM’s annual “Guide to the Future at the Annual Meeting.” I hope these previews help you plan your …
Monday Musing: Impact Investing
Usually when I attend a conference, I hope to come away with a few good thoughts, maybe a lead on a person or resource I can look up afterwards. Rarely does a conference change the way I …
Monday Musing: Orphan Collections
A Facebook post the week before last from staff at the natural history museum at the University of Louisiana in Monroe caused a stir in the museum world. The post shared a directive from …
The Most Important Question to Ask in a Capital Campaign
Nina Simon is the Executive Director of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History and author of The Participatory Museum (2010), The Art of Relevance (2016) and the popular Museum 2.0 …