Financial Sustainability

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

Are Museums Recession-Proof?

By Martha Morris

This article originallly appeared in the January/February 2010 edition of Museum magazine. For the past two decades, museums have enjoyed a building boom. Issues of Museum magazine have been graced for years with a variety of freshly …
Making the Most of the Traditional Business Model

By Karen S. Coltrane

Elizabeth Merritt, founding director of CFM has encouraged me to share some insights from my experience as director of the Children’s Museum of Richmond (CMoR) in dealing with the current economy. Elizabeth has confirmed my feeling, based …
When Themes Collide: Newspapers, Gaming and Museums

By Elizabeth Merritt

Theme 1: Last spring James Chung of Reach Advisors hosted a conversation during the AAM meeting in Philadelphia exploring what museums can learn from the recent plight of the newspaper industry, and the collapse of their business model. …
Economic Change and the Future of American Museums

By James Chung and Susie Wilkening

Guest blog by James Chung and Susie Wilkening, Reach Advisors Over the summer, James was asked to speak at the International Council of Museums meeting about the current economic turmoil and the impact on American museums. Primed by our …
Breaking Trail

By Elizabeth Merritt

This blog started last February—faced with its approaching six month anniversary I have been wrestling with the right balance of content. As I travel the country and cruise the web talking about CFM, asking how it can best serve the field, …
The Future of Carbon-based Conferences

By Elizabeth Merritt

As the AAM staff races to get ready for our annual meeting in Philadelphia at the end of the month, I am thinking a lot about the carbon footprint of such conferences and, more broadly, the environmental impact of the museum field. I think …
Questioning Assumptions

By Elizabeth Merritt

Earlier this month I participated in a very interesting scenario planning exercise at the Smithsonian. The session was led by Peter Schwartz, a board member from the Long Now Foundation, an organization whose mission is “to creatively …
Will it Play in Peoria?

By Elizabeth Merritt

This article appeared recently in PJStar.com: “There’s No Plan ‘B’ for Peoria Museum”. It reports on a town hall meeting about the proposed Downtown Peoria Riverfront Museum and Caterpillar Visitors Center. Being blissfully ignorant of …