Posts
Financial Sustainability
Explore dozens of articles, member resources, and On-Demand Programs on financial sustainability in museums.
The Future of Funding
Everyone wants to know what the next business model for museums may be. Will they morph into hybrid nonprofit/for-profit social benefit corporations? Lose tax exempt status entirely? In …
Steampunk, Crowdfunding and the Power of Social Media
Or, How One Exhibit Company Pulled A Brass Elephant Out Of A Hat This week’s guest post is by Peter Overstreet. Pete and his wife, Cat Taylor, founded the exhibit and event design company …
Museums Innovating in Businesslike Ways
Many people tell us that, in the future, museums need to be more entrepreneurial. It’s hard to find written case studies, however, of museums innovating in businesslike ways. Today’s guest …
The Backward ABC’s of Museum Data
This week’s blog post comes from Philip M. Katz, assistant director for research at AAM. This was going to be an essay about the power of museum financial and operating data—robust, …
The Transformative Power of Innovation
This guest post is by Richard Evans, president, EmcArts Inc. AAM is partnering with EmcArts, with the generous support of MetLife Foundation, to offer Innovation Lab for Museums. The …
Don’t Just Stir It, Shake It!
Today’s guest post is by Richard V. Piacentini, executive director of Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. Richard previews one of the themes we will explore next month at …
Save the Historic House, Save the World
This article originally appeared in the September/October 2011 edition of Museum magazine. A Conversation with Michael Babin and Laurie Ossman At Northern Virginia’s Woodlawn—a …
Starting a Museum: Advice from the Trenches
Today’s guest post is by Liz Williams, president of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum in New Orleans (SoFAB). SoFAB “celebrates, interprets, investigates, entertains and preserves”—and …
When Trends Collide: The New Gilded Age Meets the Rise of the Amateur Expert
Museums have long struggled to resist pressure from wealthy donors or sponsors who want to call the shots. How might this play out in a future in which museums loosen their grip on …
Museum Ethics in a Gilded Age
This week’s guest post by Erik Ledbetter, principal of Heritage Management Solutions and special adviser to the Forecasting the Future of Museum Ethics project currently underway in …
Creating your own Arcadia: Where do you start?
I’m often asked, “What will be the financial model be for museums in the future?” That model may well combine the idealism and mission-driven focus of nonprofits with strategies adapted …
More on Reinventing the Historic House (while Saving the World)
Over a thousand readers perused the post on director Laurie Ossman’s strategies to improve Woodlawn’s future through partnering with restaurateur Michael Babin to create the Arcadia Center …