Posts
Financial Sustainability
Explore dozens of articles, member resources, and On-Demand Programs on financial sustainability in museums.
Not here to stay: what makes private museums suddenly close?
This article explores the reasons behind a trend of abruptly closing private museums in the United States and abroad, using the Marciano Art Foundation as a prime example. It explains how …
Museum Pricing for Affordability and Profit
What does it cost to buy an airline ticket, book a rideshare service, or make a hotel reservation? Nowadays the answer to that question may vary minute-to-minute, as companies use data …
Sustainable Investing Part 3: Case Study of the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
In parts one and two of this series, Anna Raginskaya introduced readers to sustainable investing, discussed its relevance to museums, and provided some practical advice for organizations …
A Modest Proposal for Museum Collections: Apply the principle of direct costs for deaccessioning
Some years ago, shortly before I assumed the directorship of the Ringling Museum of Art—the state art museum of Florida—the leader of the Florida Legislature declared, “I love Rubens.” The …
Teaching the World to Value Collections (while making some $$)
I hope you will join me later this month for a webinar exploring how museums can build income streams around their collections and win hearts and minds in the process. While the session is …
The Top Ten Alliance Blog Posts of 2019
It was a whirlwind year of museums making themselves over for our changing world. Evolving ethics, social and technological transformation, and the looming presence of the bottom line are …
Sustainable Investing: A Practical Guide for Museums – Part 2
This is the second of a three-part series on sustainable investing. In part one, Anna Raginskaya, Financial Advisor, Blue Rider Group at Morgan Stanley reviewed the concept of sustainable …
Sustainable Investing: A Practical Guide for Museums – Part 1
Earlier this year a guest post on this blog advocated for museums harnessing their endowments to mission-related goals through a financial practice known as impact investing. In today’s …
It Takes a Village: How community partnerships made for a winning summer camp formula
For museums with the resources and opportunities to do so, offering a summer camp is a great way to open up the doors to students whose guardians might need the structured daytime hours a …
Collecteurs: Social Responsibility and Accessible Art
Regular readers of this blog know that I’m always on the hunt for museum-like organizations that live just slightly outside the traditional museum sphere. Such business can illuminate …
When a Private Museum Has Massive Public Support
Even before the 2008 financial collapse only 56 percent of museums received support from local government, and that funding made up about 10 percent of their overall operating budget. The …
How Museum Stores Support Their Institutions and the Public
Throughout my thirty years as a museum retail professional, I have often had to explain to others—whether colleagues, friends and family, or complete strangers—how museum stores support …