BrandingFire Blog

Image via Wikipedia

It’s a well-known concept among hardcore marketers that economic downturns and recessions are the worst time to cut back on marketing. While it seems logical to cut back on all expenses during economic difficulties, the truth of the matter is financial downturns frequently offer your best opportunities to grab market share. Why? Because your competition is busy doing the logical thing and cutting back on their marketing.

It seems the state of Georgia and New York City are taking note of this marketing concept and making a move to draw in tourists. On July 10th, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Georgia is making more than $1 million in grants for state tourism development through their Georgia Tourism Foundation. The grants aren’t going specifically to history organizations, but they are in the mix including the Augusta Museum of History.

Likewise, I’ve commented recently that with gas prices skyrocketing, now would be a perfect time for historic sites to try to pull in local tourists. Especially since many of us tend to miss seeing local sites in favor of trips to other places. New York City is doing just that. They’re encouraging people in the area to “Go Local” and visit the many tourist sites within the five boroughs of NYC.

I hope somewhere along the way, we get to hear back how successful these endeavors are. Maybe they will inspire other communities and organizations to do the same.

National Trust for Historic Preservation

I found another interesting blog from the folks at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It’s called Show Me the Money and it’s all about federal grant opportunities that may help out organizations active in historic preservation. It’s a worthy read for any group needing money.

As a side note, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has really embraced blogging as a way to communicate important information to history sites and garner feedback from readers. Their willingness to open up to this process (as opposed to shutting it down and trying to control the conversation) is astounding, inspiring and should be applauded. They are really living their mission to the fullest online and I personally thank them for their leadership in the wired world!

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?