Sustainable Revenue for Museums: A Guide

Understanding revenue sources is vital for ensuring the long-term stability and sustainability of museums, historic sites, zoos, and botanic gardens. Sustainable Revenue for Museums delves into the strategies and tactics that museum professionals, funders, and experts use to generate and manage their revenue. Museum professionals of all experience levels will find immediately actionable revenue generation and management practices. Sustainable Revenue for Museums begins with a compilation of the most recent industry-wide revenue data, with breakdowns by different revenue types, institution discipline, number of employees, and revenue type contribution to total insti tutional revenue. The next five sections of the book are: Passive IncomeContributed Income: FundraisingContributed Income: GrantsEarned Income: Museum ServicesEarned Income: Retail Services In each of these sections, more than 50 museum professionals, funders, and experts contribute to chapters focusing on specific revenue sources. Topics covered include: Investment IncomeMembershipCapital Campaigns & Major GiftsFundraising – Crowdfunding, Special Events, Partnerships, and Board Member ParticipationGrants – Government, Private, Donor Advised FundsEarned Income – Admissions, Programs & Education, Rights & Reproduction Licensing, Food Services, Facility Rentals, and the Museum Store The book’s final section, The Future of Revenue, considers future business models and revenue generation strategies. A master list of the Resources used and recommended by the contributors closes the book.

Table of Contents:
Section I – Essential Background Chapter One – Revenue Data Chapter Two – Impact Factors: Overview and Roundtable Section II – Passive Income Chapter Three – Expert Opinion: Investment Management Valerie Newell Chapter Four – The Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA) Susan N. Gary Chapter Five – Creating a Capital Campaign for the Los Alamos Historical Society Heather McClenahan Section III – Contributed Income: Fundraising Chapter Six – Membership on Center Stage Between the Transactional and Philanthropic Suzette A. Sherman Chapter Seven – The Value in Membership Cari Maslow Chapter Eight – Simplicity, Flexibility, Loyalty, and Profitability: Revamping the Longwood Gardens Membership Program Nicole Krom, Nicholas D’Addezio, and Melissa Dietrich Chapter Nine – Why Maintenance and Cultivation are Critical Beverly Sakauye Chapter Ten – Expert Opinion: Board Members & Fundraising Tonya Matthews Chapter Eleven – Expert Opinion: Fundraising & Special Events Gina Rogak Chapter Twelve – Making the Case: Motivating Your Museum’s Major Gift Prospects Tim Ardillo Chapter Thirteen – Major Gifts: Relationships Matter Julie McDearmon Chapter Fourteen – Expert Opinion: Crowdfunding Projects at the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History Jennifer Hayden Chapter Fifteen – Expert Opinion: Crowdfunding the Ida McKinley Tiara Acquisition for the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum Kimberly A. Kenney Chapter Sixteen – Making Partnerships a Priority in Fundraising Margaret Walker Chapter Seventeen – Donations and Fundraising: Management, Evaluation, and Metrics Allison Porter and Faith Brown Kerr Chapter Eighteen – Lead and Learn: Resources for Success in Fundraising Management, Evaluation and Cultivation Kristin Bertrand and James G. Leventhal Section IV – Contributed Income: Grants Chapter Nineteen – Applying, Navigating and Managing Government Grants Holly Piper Lang Chapter Twenty – State-level Grants and Grant Seeking Strategies for Your Museum Andrew J. Verhoff Chapter Twenty-One – Perseverance and Success: the National Endowment for the Humanities Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections Implementation Grant Zinia Willits Chapter Twenty-Two – The YAA ArtHouse Story: A Practical Guide to Managing an IMLS Grant Marie Berlin Chapter Twenty-Three – Demystifying Private Foundation Grants Lily Williams Chapter Twenty-Four – Expert Opinion: Building Relationships with Private Foundations Gary Smith Chapter Twenty-Five – The Greenwood Fund: Using a Donor Advised Fund to Support a Small Museum Alyssa Kopf and Kelly Purdy Chapter Twenty-Six – Donor Advised Funds – Handle with Care Martin Levine Section V – Earned Income: Museum Services Chapter Twenty-Seven – Earned Income for Sustainability David Grabitske Chapter Twenty-Eight – Roundtable: Programs and Education Chapter Twenty-Nine – Museums and Intellectual Property: In Support of Good Museum Business Practices Rina Elster Pantalony Chapter Thirty – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza: A Case Study of Rights and Reproductions Licensing Megan Bryant Chapter Thirty-One – Harnessing Rights and Reproductions Licensing at the New Mexico Museum of Art Michelle Gallagher Roberts Section VI – Earned Income: Retail Services Chapter Thirty-Two – Food Services: Models and Metrics Tracy Lawler Chapter Thirty-Three – The Opportunities in Facility Rentals Sara Kennedy Chapter Thirty-Four – Museums and Event Rentals: A Balancing Act Rennae J. Healey and Sara Schultz Chapter Thirty-Five – Establishing Roots to a Successful Museum Store Christa Dyer Chapter Thirty-Six – Why a Museum Store? Blue Anderson Chapter Thirty-Seven – Unique & Exceptional: Product Development for Museum Stores Michael Guajardo Chapter Thirty-Eight – Expert Opinion: Redeveloping the Museum Store Jennifer Pittock Chapter Thirty-Nine – Beyond the Bottom Line: The True Worth of Museum Stores Stuart Hata Section VII – The Future of Revenue Chapter Forty – Evolving the Business Model with a Comprehensive Earned Income Approach James Stevens Chapter Forty-One – Envisioning Shared Authority as an Alternative Economic Model for Cultural Organizations Rachel Boyle

About the Author :
Samantha Chmelik, Public Historian at Preston Argus, LLC, uses her background in operations management, benchmarking, and strategic planning to help cultural and history organizations implement their missions. She has worked and volunteered at libraries, museums, and non-profit organizations for two decades. She is the author of Museum Operations: A Handbook of Tools, Templates, and Models and Museum and Historic Site Management: A Case Study Approach – both published by Rowman & Littlefield.