Managing Museums – Surviving Recessions

Recessions are a time when less revenue from public funding is available to museums.  However, as a manager, you must keep your museum viable.  The good news for museums is that historically it can be shown that the public values heritage more during recessions.  Also, each past recession has proven to be times of innovation and development in the heritage sector.  This post will briefly outline what museums must do (or be) to survive a recession.

Those museums which have survived recessions in the past have certain attributes.  The follow is a list of these:

They know their core – what they do that others don’t do

They do as much now as they always had done – but with less

They share resources with other institutions

They are less reliant on current principle funders

As a result, they fundraise constantly

They increase reliance on volunteers

Volunteers are donors as well as advocates – they are not separate entities

They modify their own governance to reflect the changing situation

They offer alternative services to the community such as: lectures, night classes, a store, and they make themselves available for group get-togethers/parties/meetings

To survive in hard times, requires creativity and streamlining.  It doesn’t necessarily mean that staff must be cut.  It does mean that the “old school” way of doing things, might need to be adjusted (perhaps even drastically).  No longer can a museum afford to be a “club” for its staff to do their own research in private.  Recessions force museums to open their doors to others and welcome them in.  This has to be demonstratable (meaning, the community must feel the change in a meaningful, audible, and visual way).  Common consent among the staff is not enough.

I found this lecture to be interesting and informative – not to mention timely.  The museums, here in the UK, have just faced a drastic cut-back in government funding and the class (full of future museum managers) needs to be aware of the dangers that lurk beyond the walls of the school.  I am happy that the teachers are able and willing to adjust their teaching lectures to meet the times in which they are teaching.  This information is helpful to all who will work in the UK, as well as those who will not.