THE UNCONVENTIONAL FUNDRAISER

(Fun)draising | Samantha Summers

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Well, Musers and shakers, I come to you today hat in hand. Between work, school, and finding an internship, I did not have time to interview anybody this month for (Fun)draising. Fear not, however; as the wisdom goes, whenever you don’t have an article ready, write a listicle. It is in this spirit of last-minuteness (hello, midterms) that I humbly present The Unconventional Fundraiser.

I am often asked how I see my degree in museum studies being practical in a fundraising scenario, especially considering there are degrees and programs specifically designed to prepare people for a career in fundraising. I usually respond by saying that museum studies is about learning to tell a story that matters in a way that makes sense, and what is fundraising if not telling a story that matters in a way that makes sense to a potential donor? Rarely, however, do I hear my fellow museum studies colleagues (and professors) asking about the relationship between fundraising and their future museum careers. It is uncommon in this program to turn the popular understanding that fundraising supports museums on its head, and to ask instead how museums can support fundraising. Enter: this month’s column.

I have written before of my view that the Master of Museum Studies program doesn’t give enough attention to fundraising and development. Despite the fact that development initiatives will impact nearly every student who leaves this program and gets work in the field, many students are left unaware of their relationship to this facet of museum operations. But folks, one day you will all have to fundraise, whether it’s in your job description or not. Just as it isn’t just the collection manager who is interested in preventing items from breaking, maintaining the financial stability of an institution is (directly or otherwise) everyone’s business.

Unconvinced? Or perhaps sick at the thought? I present to you this quick and dirty guide illustrating the relationship between fundraising and nine popular museum careers, to demonstrate that you, too, are a development professional.

This is what administration looks like in action. (Source.)

Administration
How fundraising impacts you: Lots of your work includes processing donations, creating documents and contracts for donors, and arranging events to celebrate donors.
How you fundraise: You provide the foundation on which fundraising happens, and do lots of the technical work (room bookings, contract creation, tax receipt issuing) which allows your institution to process donations. Also, many institutions will house their development team within the administration.

Archivist/Librarian
How fundraising impacts you: Donors are sources of support for your archive or library, and in some cases may even give you material to add to your collection. As archives and libraries are often small in museum institutions and largely underfunded, you rely on donors for a good deal of your budget.
How you fundraise: Fundraising campaigns will often turn to institutional archives and libraries to find information and images for use in campaign materials, which you supply. Furthermore, you may be asked to show donors or potential donors around your workspace, to show them items from the archive, or to work with them in donating their own archival material when relevant.

Collections Manager
How fundraising impacts you: Fundraising helps support building operations, which impact your ability to care for your collection. Furthermore, donors may gift objects to your institution, increasing the size of your collection.
How you fundraise: As collections manager you work with material donors frequently, meaning that you already have established relationships with individuals who are invested in supporting your institution. It isn’t uncommon for that interest to be translated into a financial investment, so maintaining those relationships even after an individual material donation is key.

Welcome to communications. You live on your phone. (Source.)

Communications Manager
How fundraising impacts you: Fundraising is central to your role. Reaching out to new communities and communicating messages about events and promotions is all part of fundraising.
How you fundraise: Every new person and community you reach means a pool of new potential donors. Furthermore, lots of the messages you circulate will be very literally to do with fundraising through the advertising of things like donor drives.

Conservator
How fundraising impacts you: Not only does donor money help you get all the materials and equipment you need to conserve the items you work with, once in a while you might get a massive donation of conservation materials from a donor (as was the case for the John M. Kelly Library conservation studio last year, when I worked there and a local bookbinder donated literally all of his bookbinding materials to the studio).
How you fundraise: Keeping artifacts looking their best makes the institution look its best, which will help attract donors. More science-inclined donors may also want a chance to visit your lab, which will mean meeting with them and showing them around.

Curator
How fundraising impacts you: Your exhibitions are often supported with funding from corporate sponsors, if not individual donors. Without this financial support your exhibition team would be smaller and you would have a smaller budget for loans and acquisitions in support of your latest exhibition.
How you fundraise: You may be required to provide personal guided experiences of your exhibitions for donors and potential donors will be attracted to your dynamic, engaging exhibitions. Every single person who steps into your exhibition space is a potential donor, and your exhibition can make or break their decision to support your institution.

In education, you will spend a lot of time with tour groups (like this one!). (Source.)

Education
How fundraising impacts you: Donor financing is behind a lot of the programs you run, and if you feel like thinking a bit more abstractly, all those volunteers you manage are donating the value of their time.
How you fundraise: Your programs speak to the priorities of the institution, giving potential donors an idea of how their own priorities might fit into your institution’s vision. You might be asked to arrange tours, workshops, and talks for donors.

Front of House
How fundraising impacts you: You staff fundraising events, and have to know all about what is happening at the museum at all times to ensure a smooth visitor experience.
How you fundraise: From helping people sign up for memberships and patron programs to operating the gift shop, every interaction you have with visitors is an opportunity to increase income.

Management
How fundraising impacts you: Donors are a major part of your community, with many of them sitting on the Board with which you work. A solid portion (approximately ⅓ in a standard Ontario museum) of your operating budget comes from donors.
How you fundraise: A good chunk of your work involves meeting and developing relationships with important donors and sponsors. This ranges from inviting them to events to inviting them for private dinners with members of your staff whose work is of interest to the donor.

Still unconvinced? Or did I miss your future career, and you want to know how it fits into fundraising? Drop me a line @medievalist_sam on Twitter and let’s chat.