Your Numbers Count,
so Please Participate in MFI
Deadline extended to January 10, 2009!
The survey questionnaire is available here.
It includes instructions for participating in the online survey
or completing a PDF version.
About MFI
In November and December 2008, AAM will be conducting its latest Museum Financial Information (MFI) survey. Since 1997, this triennial survey has provided the most detailed picture available of museum finances and operations in the United States. The 2008 MFI survey covers a variety of financial topics, including institutional demographics, museum attendance, membership, income and expenses, funding sources, web-based operations, and new building construction, renovation and expansion. But the quality and accuracy of the survey depends on the participation of as manymuseums—and types of museums—as possible.
Individual museums rely on the results for benchmarking and strategic planning, as a unique tool for comparing themselves to museums of similar type, governance, or size. (They also use the comparative information to advocate for greater funding at the state and local level.) Researchers, policymakers, and the press rely on the results to help them understand museums and museum trends. Groups that monitor nonprofit accountability look to the MFI as a baseline of information about our field. Funding agencies use the results to inform their grant-making. AAM uses the information to serve its members—and to speak up for all museums, whether in the press or the nation’s capital.
In a recent survey, a majority of AAM members said that "AAM provides me with the kinds of information I need to do my job." More than a quarter said that "access to the most up to date information about the field" is the most important service that AAM provides to museums. The MFI survey is the most important source of that information. But the reliability of the data depends on the number of museums that respond to the questionnaire. Please make sure that your museum is counted, especiallyif your museum participated in past surveys, so AAM can present an accurate and reliable analysis of trends.
Invitations to participate in the survey were delivered by email around November 1, in most cases addressed to museum directors or CEOs. Here are some steps you can take to fill out the survey even before you look at the questionnaire: Identify the person on your staff best able to provide financial information to complete the survey. Ask him or her to set aside a copy of your museum’s budget, audited financial statements, and IRS Form 990—which should include nearly all the information needed to complete the MFI survey. Finally, share this call for participation with colleagues at other museums, especially if they are not AAM members; their participation will make the results more representative.
Benchmarking
Here are examples of data breakouts from the 2005 Museum Financial Survey by discipline, governance and size. The results were published in Elizabeth Merritt, ed., 2006 Museum Financial Information.
MFI in the Press
Here are some examples of how the press has relied on data from the last Museum Financial Information survey to provide an accurate picture of the museum field:
How to Participate
The MFI survey will be conducted primarily online, using password-protected software. Electronic invitations went out to more than 5000 museums around November 1, with the invitations addressed to directors or CEOs. However, there is also a static version of the survey, in the form of a PDF file that can be downloaded, completed onscreen and saved, then e-mailed or faxed to AAM. It can also be used as an aid to start collecting the data necessary to complete the online survey.
As an incentive, all museums that complete the survey will receive a 10% discount on the published report and advanced access to benchmarking data. Museums that participated in the last two MFI surveys will receive a free copy of the printed report.
Contact Philip M. Katz at pkatz@aam-us.org for more information about the survey or to receive secure login access to the online questionnaire.
