financial sustainability – American Alliance of Museums

EO Impact: Is There an Existential Threat to Nonprofit Status?

By Elizabeth Merritt

Charitable giving may fluctuate year to year, tourism ebbs and flows, your museum’s endowment will perform better some years than others. That’s normal and expected, and nonprofits have traditionally cobbled together a diverse set of …
Innovations in Relevance: A Q&A with Stephen Reily of Remuseum

By Adam Rozan

I first learned about Stephen Reily when he was the director of Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, which at the time was making headlines for its Breonna Taylor-themed exhibition Promise, Witness, Remembrance. His name popped up …
Say Cheese! A Candid Snapshot of the Museum Sector

By Elizabeth Merritt

Last month AAM released the results of our fifth “snapshot” survey of the field. These snapshots, which started as a means of checking in on museums and museum workers during COVID shutdown, now help us track recovery and continued …
STEAMing into Solvency: Integrating a Museum into the Public School System

By Karen Ackerman Witter and Leah Wilson

The pandemic was an economic tsunami for museums, particularly those already experiencing financial stress. Relatively new museums, still getting their feet under themselves, were at particular risk. Today on the blog, Karen Ackerman …
Downsizing Our Museum in the Face of a Pandemic

By Elizabeth Merritt

According to the Alliance’s first COVID snapshot of museum operations, conducted this past summer, one-third of US museums expected to lose over 40 percent of their annual operating income this year. Forty one percent anticipate having to …
“Pay As You Stay” – an alternative pricing model for museums?

By Elizabeth Merritt

This year’s TrendsWatch cites buy-ahead pricing as one tool for enhancing revenue and managing attendance. In today’s guest post, Managing Director Tom Schoessler tells us how the Weserburg Museum tried flipping that model, charging …
“The museum we closed will not be the museum we reopen.”

By Scott Stulen

Support Free COVID-19 Resources for the Field The current crisis is taking a distressing financial toll on cultural organizations, and AAM is no different. The Alliance Blog is supported by membership dues and donations. In these …
Three New Scenarios for Financial Survival in 2020

By Elizabeth Merritt

Support Free COVID-19 Resources for the Field: The current crisis is taking a distressing financial toll on cultural organizations, and AAM is no different. The Center for the Future of Museums is supported by AAM membership and …
Strategies for Short-term Financial Survival

By Elizabeth Merritt

Support Free COVID-19 Resources for the Field: The current crisis is taking a distressing financial toll on cultural organizations, and AAM is no different. The Center for the Future of Museums is supported by AAM membership and …
TrendsWatch: Building Financial Resilience in a Time of Crisis

By Elizabeth Merritt

Here at the Alliance, we know that COVID-19 is inflicting severe damage on museums. Our sector is just beginning to assess the impact of closures, travel bans, cancellation of major events (including fundraisers), and the implementation of …