Steve,

I agree.   We as employers want the best employees, but have to work within a
small budget.  We want a person with a masters' or Ph.D., with "X" amount of
years of experience, that can do twenty jobs beyond the normal job, who can
jump through hoops, stand on their head while balancing multitasks, and we
want them to work for $18,000 to 21,000.

As previous mentioned, many such "qualified" individuals are paying back
student loans, have families, bills and on and on.   There are also
"qualified" people without the pig-skin paper, too, who have the experience.

The answer(s) may be in the career field itself.   The institution (the
museum) can
make more money, increase wages, and take risks to make income.   Yes,
nonprofit organizations can make money; they can be creative, they can
instill new programs that bring in new revenue.  They can charge a fee for
entrance.  We do not have to have
free admission at the gates.

I have read that those in the museum field should be paid equally to those in
the
educational field as teachers and administrators.   And a majority of the
budget should be line itemized to the staff/salary/etc.  The problem, I've
noted is that museums often do not have the tax-base, the dollars, and
budgets to pay proper benefits (retirements, vacations, sick-days,
health/dental/vision, 401s, etc.) beyond the basic wage.   This is often a
bigger factor in accepting or changing positions.

In fairness, I think most organizations what to have a staff that is
satisfied, and compensated fairly for their skills and experience.

There are means to get around things, with endowments, operational fund
drives, and other pathways to help keeping within the boundaries of nonprofit
law.  All museums started off small and grew, though some had major
donors/givers, each organization has the capability to expand and find ways
to attract professional employees.

It is a good field to work.  I enjoy it.   But some may still feel ~~ "show
me the money."  <smiles>

Best, John
Curator of Collections
http://ourworld.cs.com/john29mart/

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