I work for a county museum that was told five years ago to find another
way to fund its self.  We were given operational support to the end of
1995 with the theory that we would accomplish this within that period.
Currently the budget for operational support is around $400,000 a year
with a like amount being raised through grants, admission, gift shop
sales, grants, donations, memberships, etc.  We have three main
facilities including a history museum, living history farm, and a natural
history museum (mostly dinosaur paleontology).  We also have a special
collections and a museum archives.  Attendance is more than
100,000 per year, and we have been accredited, reaccredited, and have
just completed a subsequent accreditation visit, and are awaiting the
results.
 
We are on the ballot for the November election.  If our initiative
passes, we will gain secured funding for 10 years at a slightly higher
level than before.  Also, we are in the midst of a capital campaign for a
new building.
 
One problem we have is a commissioner who is actively campaigning against
us.  He says we should be able to attract the necessary support through
private funds and from raising admission prices (to $8.00 or $9.00).
 
He (our commissioner), keeps pointing to all the museums that are
privately funded, comparing us to super museums that have major
collections, are located in tourist areas, and have backers who are
millionaires several times over.  We have a
respectable collection for our region, but few items that would be a must
see for most of the population as a whole.  We are also near a major
highway, but are not allowed to put up signage to attract travelers.
 
Can someone help by providing citations, examples of the number of public
museums (especially our size) that are privately funded?  Are there
figures for how many museums in the US are privately funded as to opposed
to public?  Any information that can be supplied to help us would be
greatly appreciated.
 
Note:  Our goal is to remain a publicly funded museum, but to diminish
the public support by being more entreprenaurial (although $400,000 a
year isn't too, bad).  We do not want to disinfranchise most of our
local population from entering the doors by charging high admission prices.
Last year we also served over 15,000 school children through onsite
visits, school trunks, and in-school presentations by staff and
volunteers. We also have over 200 active volunteers that support the 20
staff members at all facilities.
 
Thanks in advance for any help you can give us.  I know a lot of us are
being faced with similar funding problems.
 
Judy Prosser-Armstrong
Museum of Western Colorado
Grand Junction, CO
303-242-0971 (phone)
[log in to unmask] (E-mail)