Hello museum-l members!
I'm a volunteer for the Toronto Museum of Childhood which is planning to
open its doors sometime in 1998. The "museum" has been around for 15 years,
operated as a kind of mobile museum by some of its most active members,
creating exhibits and taking part in events all over southern Ontario. It's
only in the last year that a suitable building was found to finally house
the museum - and what a wonderful place it will be! The building is part of
a complex of Victorian industrial buildings located in downtown Toronto,
which is currently being developed into a residential/retail/office
development. The museum building has been donated to the museum by the
developers and will be refurbished to our specifications at no cost, but
this is all contingent on the developers' condominium sales and our raising
operating costs for the museum. That brings me to my request for
information. We are now in the early stages of fundraising and are currently
looking at a number of professional fundraisers in the Toronto area. We have
very little money to spend on fundraising and are hoping to find a
fundraiser who will work for a percentage of whatever amount they raise (or
some other method that doesn't cost a lot).
We want to find out about any experiences (good or bad) people have had
using professional fundraisers in a museum context. The few we have
interviewed are a varied lot, some with museum experience, others with no
museum experience but impressive credentials. Then there are others who are
very enthusiastic but lack experience. What is most important?
In addition to thoughts on using professional fundraisers, would anyone know
or be able to recommend a professional fundraiser in the Greater Toronto Area.
I should mention that no one on either the board or the fundraising
committee has much experience in the way of fundraising - certainly not the
amount we think we'll need to raise (a few million) to ensure we can meet
operating costs for many years to come.
Any general information on the nuts and bolts of constructing a museum would
also be welcome (architects have already drawn up plans but they can still
be adjusted). We have budgeted for workspace, storage space, exhibition
space, volunteer's lounge, member's lounge, canteen, auditorium, lunchroom,
washrooms, research department and library, museum shop and cloakroom, but
no doubt there are aspects which have escaped us.
We have a joint board/fundraising committee meeting this Sunday (Sept 29).
If anyone can give us some advice prior to that, I'd be eternally grateful.
Instead of posting to the list, you can reach me at [log in to unmask]
Thanks a million!

ilona biro


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Ilona Biro & Jeff Silverstein
67 Brunswick Ave
Toronto
M5S-2L8
(416)962-6005
"Art is a lie that tells the truth." Pablo Picasso

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