Museum as a Bussiness:

At Pacific Science Center we operate 87% earned income and
only 13% from donations. . . our CEO is an Economist by training,
our bussiness manager watches every penny and even as the
head of exhibits, I have an MBA. . . even with all this. . . we still
aren't able to get the public to preceive the  value with the actual
cost of doing bussiness. . . they buy memberships not to support
the institution, but to get a "discounted ticket."

We face all the same pay  issues as that have been mentioned
in all of these memos, and I think Indigo's e-mail of last week
comes closest to stating  the problems we face. . . you can only
pay out as much as you take in. . .

We all try to make up for losing money on each customer served
by increasing volume. . . which means we do  more for the community
and lose more. . . I can only speak for my institution in saying we
operate on very small margins and get good value for every $$
spent. . .  without government or corporate support or a large
endowment, no museum will be in  a position to support programs
or staff in the way we would all like. . .

David Taylor, Pacific Science Center

-----Original Message-----
From: Kez
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: 7/2/01 9:28 AM
Subject: Re: Value to the Community

I have read a lot recently on this list about how
salaries are too low, how the value of the museum
community is perceived as low compared to other, more
fundamental areas, and how we need to start thinking
of ways to get more money.

What I haven't seen any mention of is how the existing
money is managed. As a former museum employee and now
a consultant who works with many non-profits, I have
learned through observation that the non-profit
mentality can really be a detriment to a non-profit
institution. What I mean by this is that, because the
environment lacks the pressure to turn a profit that
exists in a corporate environment, museums lack the
incentive to make the smartest, most efficient
decisions. In many cases, they don't draw (or seek)
top-level management who have the sort of experience
that would allow them to make those decisions.

I know that many people on this list will be opposed
to the idea of viewing a museum as a "corporation."
I'm not proposing that extreme, but  I do think a lot
of benefits could be derived from switching to a more
businesslike mentality. There is a lot of room within
every non-profit to make changes that will improve
efficiency and allow the existing money to go a lot
farther. There are ways to build success and revenue
without compromising the institution's integrity, and
I think this is an avenue that should be carefully
explored.

Kez


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