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I'm going to be the devil's advocate and state that money is not always the answer. You can have plenty and mismanage that money in all sorts of ways even when staying "within budget". If you make no effort to improve exhibits and programs over time or just plain let things go to seed staying within budget will just be another form of slow death. I've been there…
IMHO here is what I would have to say on your various questions:
> Should we rely on tourist dollars and try and cater for them?
NO, you cannot just cater to a single audience or even expect them to be a major contributor. Your business plan should include a mix of visitor models including single visit tourists, single visit general public, repeat visit general public, memberships, group/school visits, etc. Often a graph of how much each of these will contribute can be created and that then tells you a lot about how you should design and present exhibits and programs. I think the comments about the "Maker Space" models says a great deal about what I hope is a continuing trend away from the single visit model to one of repeat visitor ship (AND MEMBERSHIPS!) thru sustained engagement.
> Should the entrance fee be set high or low?
Only local market research will answer this one. You need to price admissions to meet whatever group from the above graph proves biggest.
> Should we have other investments, such as property, that feed money in?
If you can build an endowment. DO IT! Not sure about owning properties or other types of investments. Here in the states the tax accountant would have something to say about all of that.
> Should we continue to lobby the government and city council to get guaranteed funding? Is it possible for a centre to survive without this?
Certainly it should be a goal to have some level of un-earned income that you can count on to a higher level. Almost every place like this has a business model based on an expected balance between earned and un-earned income. Some of those that failed over the years had the balance wrong or had no contingency for losing the un-earned portion. This is especially the case when government money is concerned as economies rise and fall and politics rears its ugly head.
> Should we rely on corporate sponsorship?
Wouldn't rely on it. But it should be a big part of the un-earned income. Here you get into all sorts of issues with sponsorship and all the strings attached. No one wants to visit a museum that is just a corporate trade show in disguise.
Museums and science centers are reinventing themselves as we speak.
Erich
Erich Rose Design
807 The Living End
Austin, TX 78746
512-626-9930; [log in to unmask]
http://www.flickr.com/photos/erichrose/
On Sep 25, 2013, at 6:58 PM, Amy Johnston <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
>
> Eric,
> thanks for that. Yes, of course money is the short answer, but the question is where should that money come from?
>
> Some questions to start people off.....
>
> Should we rely on tourist dollars and try and cater for them?
> Should the entrance fee be set high or low?
> Should we have other investments, such as property, that feed money in?
> Should we continue to lobby the government and city council to get guaranteed funding? Is it possible for a centre to survive without this?
> Should we rely on corporate sponsorship?
>
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For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.
Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.
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