Trends and Futures in the Economic Condition of Museums
Today AAM released its second annual report on the economic state of America’s museums, U.S. Museums Continue to Serve Despite Stress. The report is based on a survey of AAM institutional members. Some of the news is bad: More than half …
Trends in Tax Exempt Status
I’ve written about the trend for cities to establish PILOTs (Payments in Lieu of Taxes) for nonprofit organizations. These payments (nominally voluntary) can be seen as a civilized way for museums to be good neighbors, supporting …
Free Webinar on Forecasting the Future of Vulnerable Populations
I blogged a couple of months ago about a wonderful set of scenarios commissioned by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on the future of vulnerable populations. Now the RWJ is offering a free webinar to enable readers to explore these …
An Idea for New Income and New Engagement: give your collections to as many people as possible
Got your attention with that headline, didn’t I? Calm down, I’m not talking about deaccessioning. I’m talking replication and teleportation of collections objects. Everyone has their own fav future tech. Phil’s is jetpacks: Mine is …
Flex your Twitter Muscles and Prep to Tackle the Diversity Challenge!
Are you psyched about this Thursday’s Diversity Twebevent? Betty Farrell, Cecilia Garibay and Lisa Sasaki, are primed and ready to tweet with you on Feb. 24, from 2–3 p.m. (ET), exploring how museums are tackling demographic change. Full …
Where Might the Boston PILOT lead us?
When I leading forecasting exercises, helping people to question assumptions and imagine alternate futures, one scenario that participants repeatedly create is one in which museums no longer have nonprofit status. Why does it come up so …
The Path to Sustainability—Working Together
This is part two of an essay by Sarah S. Brophy, co-chair of AAM’s PIC Green. You can read part one here.For the museum field, the way to close the distance between activities like Seafood Watch and our present-day reality is to take the …
The Path to Sustainability—Just Get Started
This week’s guest blogger, Sarah S. Brophy, is principal of bMuseand co-chair of AAM’s Green Professional Interest Committee (PIC Green). Part two of this essay will go up later this week—stay tuned! Earlier this month the CFM Blog looked …
A Visit from the Loan Officer
For a decade or more I’ve had the privilege of co-authoring an annual Xmas poem with Sally Shelton, collections manager of the Museum of Geology at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, and John Simmons, principal of …
Challenging Assumptions: Who says “Entrepreneurial” = “for-profit?”
I want to spread the word about the Startup Open, a challenge issued in conjunction with Global Entrepreneurship Week (November 15-21). The Kauffman Foundation has announced it will select the “50 most promising startups” launched during …
