Complete Your Economic Impact Statement Today

Now more than ever, legislators and funders need to know just how your museum impacts your community. You can start with a just few key pieces of data to personalize and complete our basic template. Then get creative - you can put the data on your museum or organization's letterhead, add photos of visitors enjoying the museum, or add additional data that helps make the case about the value of your museum in your community.

Many museums and organizations have created their Economic Impact Statement for their museum or several museums they represent. See sample economic impact statements and please share your samples with us today!

Preview

ECONOMIC IMPACT STATEMENT
for
name of institution

  
My museum employs _____ (#) people in our community.

My museum spends $ ____ annual budget each year on goods and services in our community.

My museum serves _____ (#) visitors each year, including % from out of town.

My museum serves _____ (#) schoolchildren each year through school visits to museums.

Admission fee: $ _____

On a national scale, museums are economic engines:

Museums employ 400,000 Americans, according to the American Alliance of Museums.

U.S. museums contribute $21 billion to the American economy each year (2008 estimate), encouraging economic growth in their communities.

Museums rank among the top three family vacation destinations.

Trips including cultural and heritage activities comprise one of the most popular and significant segments of the travel industry, accounting for over 23% of all domestic trips.

Visitors to historic sites and cultural attractions, including museums, stay 53% longer and spend 36% more money than other kinds of tourists.

Quality of life issues contribute significantly to decisions businesses make in choosing to relocate, including access to cultural resources that includes a dynamic museum community. In fact, according to research cited by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, "It has been shown that the nonprofit arts and culture industry generates over $166 billion in economic activity annually, supports over 5.7 million full time jobs, and returns over $12 billion in federal income taxes annually. Governments which support the arts on average see a return on investment of over $7 in taxes for every $1 that the government appropriates."