Financial Sustainability

Explore dozens of articles, member resources, and On-Demand Programs on financial sustainability in museums.

The Future of Museum Funding Resource

By Elizabeth Merritt

Exploring the impact of executive orders, actions, and policies on museum income streams and business models This resource from the Alliance’s Center for the Future of Museums analyzes the impact of recent executive orders and …
The New Stablecoin Legislation and Why Museums Should Care

By Elizabeth Merritt

Today’s post exemplifies the service the Center for the Future of Museums provides to the museum people: helping you stay abreast of emerging trends, understand the implications of significant events (in this case, legislation), and factor …
Beyond Financial Sustainability: Nourishing a Healthy Financial Ecosystem

By American Alliance of Museums

This is a recorded session from the 2024 AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo. Financial sustainability has long and rightfully been among the primary strategic goals of museums and their staff and Boards – but what if the drive for …
What Works for Building Audiences? Let’s Review the Data.

By Joseph O'Neill

One of the biggest issues museums face right now is diminished attendance. Years after most pandemic-induced closures have lifted, the majority of institutions have still seen only a partial return of their visitors—an average of 71 …
Striking a Balance at the Oakland Museum of California

By Nisha Gulati, Mirella Rangel, and Kim Ondreck Carim

The Oakland Museum of California has changed its financial decision-making to prioritize social cohesion. This article originally appeared in Museum magazine’s May/June 2024 issue, a benefit of AAM membership. During a strategic planning …
Museum Philanthropy & Fundraising Tipsheet

By American Alliance of Museums

This tipsheet summarizes the transcript of a webinar presented by Charles Katzenmeyer, Eowyn Bates, Amy Burt, Shannon Joern, and Ginevra Ranney. It was developed with the help of ChatGPT. Building museum resilience begins with diversifying …
Planning for Sustainable Success: Building a Development Plan for Museums

By American Alliance of Museums

A strategic annual development plan is the document every nonprofit organization should have to identify how much money it needs to raise and how it will successfully secure those resources. During this webinar, experts will take you …
Why Museums Need Internal Audit

By Humza Elahi, Christienne Johnson, Roman Lindauer, and Laurie Scofield

How do you feel when you hear the words “internal audit”? For many people, the answer is a sense of anxiety and perhaps even a muttered “uh oh.” As a group of museum internal auditors, we’re used to confronting this reaction from our …
60 Ideas in 60 Minutes: Museum Philanthropy & Membership Post Pandemic

By American Alliance of Museums

Building museum resilience begins with diversifying revenue sources and creating long-term philanthropic partnerships. Philanthropy—and its symbolic and lucrative community-centered sibling, membership—are essential to the sustainability …
The Future of the Museum Store

By Elizabeth Merritt

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 …