Leading the Way in Revenue Generation
Strategies for Museums
Allyson LazarOrinda Group, LLC
2008 AAM ConferenceDenver, CO
By 2004, nearly 71% of nonprofit revenue came from
fees for goods or services and government grants and private
contributions had fallen to 23.5% of revenue.
Source: The Nonprofit Sector in Brief: Facts and Figures from the Nonprofit Almanac
2007, The Urban Institute
Strategies Identified by the Orinda Group Survey
• Engage in Social Media• Enable Online Retail, Admissions, Giving and Membership
Opportunities through the Museum Website• Participate on E-Philanthropy Websites• Consolidate, Professionalize and Streamline Business Units• Explore New Retail Opportunities• Pursue Creative Strategic Partnerships• Devise Targeted “Creative” Fundraisers that are Unique to the
Institution, Community, Audience and/or Program Seeking Funding• Restructure Museum Support• Consider Unrelated Businesses• Step up to the Auction Block• Host Traveling Exhibitions• Open up the Museum to Night-time Exploration• Diversify Revenue Generation and Fundraising Strategies
Trends• Metrics• Transparency• Social Entrepreneurs
–Return on Investment (ROI)–Deeper investment in fewer
organizations• E-Philanthropy / Use of technology
and social media
Social Media Statistics• Almost 300 museum profiles on Flickr• Nearly 7400 museum-related groups on
Flickr• Over 100 YouTube channels dedicated to
museums• Tens of thousands of museum-related
videos on YouTube• Hundreds of museums on MySpace• Over 500 museum-related groups on
Recommended Donation Sites for Museums
• Network for Good
Shop-to-Give Sites:• iGive• Good Shop• eBay’s Missionfish• Shop for Museums
Search-to-Give Sites:• Good Search
Electronic Resources and References
2007 Orinda Group Museum Revenue Generation and Fundraising Study:
http://orindagroup.com/testing/MRGFS-electronic.pdf
Leading the Way for Revenue Generation Strategies in Museums presentation:
http://orindagroup.com/testing/leadingtheway.pdf
2007 Orinda Group Museum Revenue Generation Survey Results:
http://orindagroup.com/OGBlog/Museum_Revenue_Generation_Survey.pdf
