Posts
Social Impact
The effect that museums have on the social fabric of their communities and the well-being of the individuals and families who live there.
Love in the Time of Climate Crisis at the Denver Botanic Gardens
The case for using emotion and metaphor in exhibit…
An Afrofuturist School Program Empowers Children to Envision the Future
Futurism is a powerful tool to share with kids—equipping them to think about the world they want to live in when they grow up, challenging them to make it better. Today on the blog, …
Reopenings: What Museums Learned Leading Through Crisis
Over the past several years, museums have faced widespread and systemic challenges that have fundamentally changed the way our institutions serve their communities. We’re pleased to …
Reflection
Do museums have the power to change the world? Many people who work in the field believe so—that their institutions improve people’s wellbeing and strengthen, or at the very least …
Elevating Sustainability Efforts in Museum Dining Operations
As museums encourage visitors to learn and think about what is possible, sustainability is no longer a behind-the-scenes activity. Beyond LEED-certified buildings and facilities operations, …
How a South Carolina Library Became a Model of Social Impact Innovation
“Bad libraries build collections. Good libraries build services. Great libraries build communities.” —R. David Lankes – Professor and Director of the School …
Museums Discover Impact Investing
CFM first flagged impact investing as a trend of significance to museums in 2013, inspired by a talk Seth Miller gave at SXSW in which he declared that “every time you spend a dollar, you …
Blues on the Block: Connecting Communities through Live Music, Rhythm, and Public Health
The National Blues Museum was one of ninety-one museums, libraries, and cultural or tribal organizations that leveraged their position as trusted community partners to help bolster …
Measuring Social Impact for Strategic Change
Compared to economic and educational impact, social impact is elusive and challenging to measure. The Measurement of Museum Social Impact (MOMSI) project is working to create a valid …
Why I’m Going to Boston
“It’s so good to see you!” How much new meaning has that simple phrase taken on over the last two years? Last September I attended my only in-person conference since the beginning of the …
Bolstering Vaccine Confidence
Pensacola MESS Hall met the community where it was to demonstrate the power of her…
How a Rapid-Response Pop-Up Inspired New Notions of Audience and Community
The events of 2020 and 2021 forced museums to innovate in ways and at a speed that would have been unthinkable prior. Our hope is that 2022 brings about a time of reflection, where we take …