Peering into Percentages: A Q&A with Susie Wilkening

Spend enough time reading or talking about museums, and you will inevitably come across statistics that convey the vibrancy or challenges of our field. For every percentage point, there is a person behind that figure, working hard to …

8 Steps for Growing Investable Assets

At Northern Trust, we understand the value of partnership and shared history. Like the American Alliance of Museums, we believe that a community of like-minded individuals and organizations can meaningfully change lives. That is why we …

Catching the Data Bug: A Q&A with Colleen Dilenschneider

I’m not sure how I first came across Colleen Dilenschneider—whether it was hearing her speak at a conference or reading one of her articles on the Know Your Own Bone blog, where she shares critical market research from IMPACTS Experience …

Leisure-Time Shifts in a (Mostly) Post-Pandemic World: A 2023 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers Data Story

There have been a lot of changes in how people live their lives over the past five years, largely (but not exclusively) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While some of these shifts may benefit museums, others mean museums have more competition …

Museum Visitation—Frequency vs. Incidence Gaps: A 2023 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers Data Story

When we plot out certain demographic characteristics, we find that who visits museums frequently (and the gaps we discover) can be very different than who visits museums at all (the incidence). Understanding these gaps (and where gaps …

Museum Visitation: A 2023 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers Data Story

It's been 3.5 years since the COVID-19 pandemic devastated museum visitation. For some museums, visitation is back to normal. For others, well,…

The Future of the Museum Store

This post was originally published in 2014 and is republished with updates. Read more about how to get involved in Museum Store Sunday taking place November 26, 2023! I had the pleasure of giving a talk at the Museum Store Association …

Measuring the Social Impact of Museums

At this pivotal time in history, advocating for museums, their staff, and their collections is more important than ever. To do that successfully, though, we need to be able to demonstrate impact on visitors and communities. But while we …

Essential Evaluators: What’s in Your Soup?

Essential Evaluators seeks to gather evaluators in a common space to dialogue, reflect, and support each other in a world upended by COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter protest movement. This is a time of uncertain and unknown expectations …

Latest Stories from AAM

Civics on View: Using Museum Collections to Foster Greater Civic Knowledge and Understanding

At a time when much of the nation is thinking about what citizenship means, museums, …

The Formula for Relevance

Category: Center for the Future of Museums Blog
I love finding examples of museums that use their resources to boost the fortunes of …

Museum Ethics in a New Gilded Age

Category: Center for the Future of Museums Blog
Readers of this blog may remember Erik Ledbetter, who served as the Director of …

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