BrandingFire Blog

Downtown St. Joseph, MO

Image via Wikipedia

StJoeNews.net published an interetsing story on Sunday, June 29th titled “Museums look to the future“, noting that St. Joseph, Missouri has a number of good museums (including the Patee House Museum and Jesse James House Museum), which is both a blessing and a curse. Culturally, it’s great for the city, but the museums are having to compete with each other for limited visitor dollars. Many are starting to look harder at the possibility of getting government tax support. One museum director said museums will need to receive 28% of their income from government support. That’s a staggering number. Nearly a third? Other people the reporter interviewed wouldn’t give numbers like that, but they generally all agreed that government support is needed.

And the thing is, this isn’t just in St. Joseph. It’s like this all over the country. Museums are generally struggling to make ends meet and the task is getting harder as the economy staggers along and gas prices skyrocket. But is the answer government tax support? Raising admission prices? Corporate sponsorship? A combination of these tactics? Or some other solution? I think all history-related organizations are going to have to start getting creative with ways to bring in money. I also think they’re going to have to reevaluate their organization from the top down. Are you telling a good story? Are you telling a cohesive story? Are you working to personalize the story so that it engages your audience? Are you approaching your finances from a business standpoint (even if you’re a non-profit)? Notice in the St. Joe story, this quote:

“If they (the museums) are going to last, you have to operate them as a business.”

Terry Oldham, director of the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art.’

Another good point made in the story is that one of the most costly expenses for many museums is simply finding good help. Volunteers are extremely helpful, but they’re hard to find and not always available, the way paid employees are. Good help is not only hard to find, but it can be expensive.

So, is your organization looking to the future and wondering how to handle rising costs and dwindling customers? Have you found any ways to start dealing with the money crunch? What is your organization doing to bring in more dollars or protect the dollars you already have?

Image via WikipediaThe National Trust for Historic Preservation has a really good blog and last Friday they posted about how important it is for historic sites to create a business plan. They also published a nice, concise list of resources to help you get started.

You might be wondering how important a business plan is - especially if you’re a not-for-profit. The answer is simple… VERY! But it’s not just the plan itself that’s important, but the process you go through in creating the plan. It really makes you study your market and think about your mission and audience. For that reason alone, I also encourage organizations to create their own plan. You can get outside help, but I don’t recommend you outsource the whole process. No one understands your organization and it’s mission quite like you do and the process of “getting your hands dirty” (so to speak) is very important.

I encourage you to head over and take a look at their resource listing!