Museums: Engagement for Fundraising

By Paul Born, President, Tamarack,  An Institute for Community Engagement

A museum is a valuable community asset and deserves financial support. Good engagement strategies can make fundraising far more effective.

Example: 

Molly led a small regional museum promoting local history. The majority of her staff were volunteers. Molly raised most of their funds through applying for small grants and through special events fundraising like bake sales and their annual Mardi Gras night.

After taking a fundraising seminar Molly came to understand the process of identifying her prospects, engaging potential major donors, building relationships, and gradually building a case to support her position. It took some time but Molly slowly started to research the people already involved in her organization, and garnered the courage to ask them to identify others who might be interested in supporting their work. The volunteers were especially useful.

Molly had a big breakthrough when a regular museum visitor heard from one of the volunteers that they were raising money. After several visits together this person donated $10,000 to their campaign. It was a fine start and lifted the confidence of everyone involved.

Changing How We Work: The AMA Community Engagement Initiative and Cross Sector Engagement

By Jennifer Forsyth, Advancement Lead, Alberta Museums Association

For nearly three years, the Alberta Museums Association (AMA) has been undertaking an initiative focussed around community engagement. The Community Engagement Initiative (CEI) grew out of many conversations between the AMA and its stakeholders, the engaging work AMA members are doing within their communities, and an understanding about the importance of creating meaningful connections. Firmly rooted in the AMA’s Strategic Framework, this initiative was comprised of three goals: to foster a true understanding of community engagement; to build capacity for leadership opportunities; and to provide tools, resources, and connections to assist members in undertaking related projects.

As we set out to undertake the Community Engagement Initiative, the AMA connected with Tamarack Institute for Community Engagement’s  President, Paul Born. Paul’s work does not focus specifically on museums; his work is with organizations and communities. He guides groups in creating meaningful connections, so they may better address community issues. Through Paul’s mentorship, we began to develop a theory of change. We asked ourselves:

Who are we now?
What is our current state?
What kind of change do we want to happen?
How do we want that change to occur?

Future Coalition Summit Program Now Available

Program details for the Future Coalition Summit happening February 7, 2015 at Grant MacEwan University are now available at www.museums.ab.ca.  

Social Responsibility and Cross Sector Engagement

The Alberta Museums Association was pleased to have Doug Worts, Culture and Sustainability Specialist, WorldViews Consulting; Peter Faid, Principal, Community Services Consulting Ltd.; and Leah Best, Executive Director, Touchstones Nelson: Museum of Art and History as panel speakers at AMA Conference 2014: Accelerating Museum Impact. Click below to view recordings.

Social Responsibility and Cross Sector Engagement: Part 1 of 3

Doug Worts

Social Responsibility and Cross Sector Engagement: Part 2 of 3
Peter Faid

Social Responsibility and Cross Sector Engagement: Part 3 of 3
Leah Best

Presented at the Alberta Museums Association 2014 Conference: Accelerating Museum Impact, Calgary, AB, September 12, 2014.