Economic Trends – Page 3 – American Alliance of Museums

Our Broken Economic Model

By Elizabeth Merritt

Every so often I realize I am having the same conversation so frequently, I might as well write it down and share it with everyone. Today’s conversation is “How Museums Are Like Newspapers and What We Can Learn from That.” I haven’t come …
How Museums are Like Bellybuttons and What That Tells Us

By Elizabeth Merritt

I think it’s time to share my omphalic classification scheme for museums. I started using this metaphor while I was directing AAM’s excellence programs (MAP, Accreditation) to capture my observations about major differences about museums’ …
The Future of Funding

By Elizabeth Merritt

Everyone wants to know what the next business model for museums may be. Will they morph into hybrid nonprofit/for-profit social benefit corporations? Lose tax exempt status entirely? In today’s post Carl Hamm, immediate past chair of the …
The Backward ABC’s of Museum Data

By Elizabeth Merritt

This week’s blog post comes from Philip M. Katz, assistant director for research at AAM. This was going to be an essay about the power of museum financial and operating data—robust, reliable numbers that can help museums plan for the …
When Trends Collide: The New Gilded Age Meets the Rise of the Amateur Expert

By Elizabeth Merritt

Museums have long struggled to resist pressure from wealthy donors or sponsors who want to call the shots. How might this play out in a future in which museums loosen their grip on curatorial authority and actively encourage participation …
Museum Ethics in a Gilded Age

By Elizabeth Merritt

This week’s guest post by Erik Ledbetter, principal of Heritage Management Solutions and special adviser to the Forecasting the Future of Museum Ethics project currently underway in partnership with Seton Hall University’s Institute of …
Trends and Futures in the Economic Condition of Museums

By Elizabeth Merritt

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

By Elizabeth Merritt

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

By Elizabeth Merritt

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 …
Where Might the Boston PILOT lead us?

By Elizabeth Merritt

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 …