I volunteer at a small local historical society, and we're trying to
build our relationships with the local schools (public and private).
We found that anything short of direct, personal contact wasn't
getting our message out. This can be time-consuming (and thus
budget-destroying), but it was the only thing that worked.

Now, our public schools are more disorganized than they should be, so
that was part of the problem. You'd think that contacting teachers
directly would solve the problem, but we got no response from previous
letter campaigns and email campaigns, so it's more than just poor
communication.

Since our program is tied to state curriculum for a specific grade
level, it was possible to focus on a subset of teachers and contact
them directly, hand-delivering our materials. We also did the same
with the librarians, as we discovered that in many schools they're the
only consistent organizational body.

Our situation is not the same as yours, but perhaps you could use a
two-tiered system. Simple reminders for those institutions where you
have a well-established relationship (could be via email), and
something a bit more encouraging for schools that haven't visited.

It also pays to do your research and find out what the schedules are
(teacher planning days, curriculum milestones, etc.). If you can
present your museum as a way to simplify a teacher's life, you'll get
a better response.

-- 
Margaret
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