When I worked at a local historical society, we did an adopt-a-gown program in conjuction with a summer wedding exhibit.  The money was used for conservation work on wedding gowns to be displayed in the exhibit.  Long before the exhibit opened, we had a conservation lab at a local university give us estimates as to how much each gown would cost to conserve.  We ran a feature in the weekly paper promoting the upcoming wedding exhibit and the opportunity to "adopt-a-gown".  Donors could come in and choose whichever gown they wanted to "adopt".  Some of the donors were related to the original owner of the dress, others were just interested in being part of the pgoram.  It was a big success for the historical society in that they generated interest in the exhibit as well as the textile collection and through the program were able to have a minimum 10 or so dresses conserved. In the exhibit labels, we noted when a dress had been adopted and who the generous donor was (unless they wanted to remain anonymous).
 
If you have additional questions, just let me know!
Laura Abrams

Anne Lane <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Esteemed colleagues –
Has any of your institutions tried an adopt-an-artifact or similar program as a way of raising money for collections care? If so, was it successful, either in terms of fundraising or in other, less tangible ways such as publicity for your museum or attracting more artifact donations? Would you mind sharing how you publicized and managed the program? We are thinking of launching something of that sort in conjunction with an exhibit we are opening in May that will feature seldom-seen items from our collection as well as items significant to Charlotte’s history that we are borrowing from private lenders.
Many thanks,
 
Anne
Anne T. Lane
Collections Manager
704.568.1774 x110 phone
704.566.1817 fax
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The Charlotte Museum of History and Hezekiah Alexander Homesite
Where  History Has a Home
3500 Shamrock Drive
Charlotte, NC  28215-3214
www.charlottemuseum.org
Featured Exhibits:
ToyTime: Larger-than-Life Folk Toys, September 8, 2007 to March 9, 2008
Flags Across The Nation: Quilts of Patriotism, September 11 to November 11, 2007
Charlotte Neighborhoods: Brooklyn to Biddleville, Now through January 25, 2008
 
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