Presented by the Museum Association of New York (MANY) and the Cooperstown Graduate Program’s Institute for Cultural Entrepreneurship in collaboration with the American Association of Museums
Funded with a grant from the Institute of Museum & Library Services
Produced by LearningTimes

Museums are increasingly feeling the pressure to operate “like a business” while retaining the values and priorities of a nonprofit. Incorporating mainstream best practices from the corporate sector may make sense for nonprofit organizations, but the change can be challenging. This webinar will examine the processes involved in business planning including:

• What is involved in the conceptual shift from planning from an organization’s capacity and mission to planning from market opportunities and brand
• How to articulate and analyze an organization’s fundamental business model and that understanding can improve sustainability
• How the “case” for a business plan is different from a strategic plan
• How “customers” and “investors” differ from “visitors” and “donors”
• What information and data you need to know to develop a robust business plan and how to get it
• Who should be involved and what should they be responsible for
• How to measure success beyond profit or loss

Who Should Attend

Executive directors, department heads, CFOs, board members, particularly individuals responsible for planning and/or finance

How Will I Benefit?

• Understand the relationship of business plans to other plans (master, strategic); the relative merits and uses of each
• Create a planning process that is both strategic and business-focused, keeping both mission and market at the center of planning
• Identify (but not necessarily have) the information needed for robust business planning

Presenter

Laura B. Roberts, principal, Roberts Consulting, Cambridge, Mass.

Moderator

Anne Ackerson, executive director, Museum Association of New York

Registration

• Staff of AAM Institutional Members, staff of MANY Institutional Members and CGP’s ICE alumnae: Free
• AAM and MANY Individual Members, and Cooperstown Graduate Association members: $40.00
• Non-members: $90.00

How to Register

Click here to register as an AAM member.  MANY members, ICE alumnae, CGA members and non-members register here:

Step 1 – Tell us about you:

Step 2 – Submit payment if needed:

MANY Individual and CGA Members: $40.00

Non-members: $90.00

Step 3 – Use the confirmation email you will receive from MANY to join the webinar.

The Council is very pleased that Governor Cuomo and the NYS Legislature passed a budget which included $4 million in additional funding for the Council. This funding is directly attributable to the Governor and the Legislature’s support and understanding of the high economic value and vibrant community making impact that arts and cultural support brings to NY State’s residents and visitors.  The dedication and hard work of arts advocates, the arts community and the Council was a catalyst for the additional funding, and we are deeply grateful to the strong support of so many citizens and arts organizations during the budget season.

The $4 million will be administered by the Council on behalf of the grant program of the Regional Economic Development Council, REDC, www.nyworks.ny.gov. Please visit this web site to learn more about the important work of the REDC.  There are many details still being worked out on the REDC/Council Program but the following is known:

• Applicants for the REDC/Council Program must meet the eligibility requirements for organizations seeking funding from the Council
• An application to the REDC/Council Program is EXEMPT from the two grant application limit for FY13
• A new guideline, with application criteria specific to the REDC/Council Program, will be developed
• Applications for the same project cannot be submitted to the Council’s ongoing funding program and the REDC/Council Program
• The Council will issue the contracts for the grant awards from the REDC grants program
• Applications will be made using the REDC website’s online Consolidated Funding Application.

NYSCA indicates that more information is forthcoming.  We recommend that you contact your local economic development representatives ASAP.

Here are the leadership people who must be thanked:

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
Executive Chamber
Albany, New York  12224

Speaker Sheldon Silver
LOB 932
Albany, New York  12248

Majority Leader Dean G. Skelos
LOB 909
Albany, New York 12247

Assembly member Margaret M. Markey
Chair, Tourism, Arts & Sports Development Committee
LOB 712
Albany, New York 12248

Senator Elizabeth O’C Little
Chair, Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks & Recreation
LOB 310
Albany, New York 12247

AND, thank the Senator and Assembly representing your district.

More than 150 museums of all types have already signed up to participate.  To add your institution to the roster, contact Kelly Rabideau at I LOVE NY: krabideau@esd.ny.gov.  I LOVE NY will need the following information: contact name, contact email, contact phone number, organization email and your organization’s web site url (to hyperlink from iloveny.com).  By participating you agree to place a banner ad on your website or in your newsletter that links to information about the program at www.iloveny.com/museumweek .   Participants are being asked to tie suitable existing programming for May 31st – June 6th into the overall New York State Museum Week 2012 promotion by listing activities on their own web pages.  I LOVE NY suggests considering enhancing your existing programming with special offers, events, discounts, contests, drawings, etc.

Didn’t receive the emails?  Having trouble accessing the questionnaires?  Please let us know ASAP at info@manyonline.org.  We’ll work with you to get you up and running.

Albany’s museums are opening their doors for you during the conference, so we hope you’ll use the passport to visit many of them.

Our fundraising Unwind & Dine dinner is set for Monday evening, April 23rd at the Midtown Tap and Tea Room just down the street from the Opalka Gallery, the site of Monday’s Networking Reception.  We’ve got the restaurant to ourselves, so if you’re in the mood to show off musical talent, you’ve got a venue and audience!

As always, we welcome your questions and comments throughout this process!

There are also no cuts in jobs or programs at the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. In fact, the parks department would get $94 million to “address the large backlog of capital rehabilitation and improvement needs in 48 state parks and historic sites and facilities operated by the Olympic Regional Development Authority.” Total capital spending for parks would be $110 million more than the parks got for improvements this year.

The Environmental Protection Fund also would be unchanged, at $134 million. The fund pays for historic preservation projects, as well as open space programs.  Parks would be down just 12 jobs, to 1,736, reflecting attrition and the ongoing hiring freeze. Funding to run the parks would dip slightly, about 2.5 percent, to $211.3 million.

Within the Environmental Protection Fund is $9M for the Zoos, Botanical Gardens and Aquariums Program.  This program provides critical general operating support, which is not available to living collections institutions through NYSCA.

The governor’s budget calls for $3.815 million for Matching Funds (on an aid to localities line) and $2.5 million for the I Love NY marketing program for a total of $6.315 million.

You can do your part by raising your voice with your state legislators in support of MANY’s advocacy agenda.  The agenda is part of a larger advocacy white paper, Living on the Knife’s Edge: The Status of New York State’s Museums in 2012.

For information about how your museum or heritage organization can advocate, see this FAQ.

NYS Senate Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and Recreation Committee
Betty Little, Chair

Eric Adams (D- Kings)Greg Ball (R-Dutchess, Putnam, Westchester)
John J. Bonacic  (R-Delaware, Orange, Sullivan, Ulster)
Thomas K. Duane  (D-New York)
Patrick M. Gallivan  (R-Erie, Livingston, Ontario, Wyoming)
Joseph A. Griffo  (R-Lewis, Oneida, St. Lawrence)
Mark Grisanti  (R-Erie, Niagara)
Timothy M. Kennedy  (D – Erie)
Jeffrey D. Klein  (D-Bronx, Westchester)
Carl L. Marcellino  (R-Nassau, Suffolk)
Patty Ritchie  (R-Jefferson, Oswego, St. Lawrence)
Jose M. Serrano  (D-Bronx, New York)
David J. Valesky  (D- Cayuga, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga)

NYS Assembly Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Development
Margaret Markey, Chair

Ken Blankenbush (R-Jefferson, Lewis, Oswego, St. Lawrence)
John Ceretto (R-Niagara)
Christopher Friend (R-Chemung, Schuyler, Tioga)
Dennis Gabryszak (D-Erie)
Aileen Gunther (D-Orange, Sullivan)
Sean Hanna (R-Livingston, Monroe, Ontario)
Guillermo Linares (D-New York)
John McEneny (D-Albany)
Steven McLaughlin (R-Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer)
Dean Murray (R-Suffolk)
Daniel O’Donnell (D-New York)
Dan Quart (R-New York)  
Bob Reilly (D-Albany,Saratoga)
Naomi Rivera (D-Bronx)
Samuel Roberts (D-Onondaga)
Linda Rosenthal (D-New York)
Teresa Sayward (R-Essex, Hamilton, Saratoga, Warren)
Matthew Titone (D-Richmond)

Preserving the Infrastructure:

• Rebuild the New York State Council on the Arts.  In 1960, New York State was the FIRST in the nation to establish state arts agency.  NYSCA must be sustained as a strong independent entity, and its Museum Program as the primary funder of museums.  The FY2012 executive budget holds NYSCA’s local assistance funding to the FY2011 level of $31.6 million – while this is welcome news, it remains an astounding 58% below its highest point just two decades ago. This decline is unprecedented among state agency local assistance funding.
• Restore the legislative line item of $450,000 to the New York Council for the Humanities.  This funding would provide a renewed, publicized offer of small grants ($3,000-$10,000) to the state’s best public humanities programs in communities from Long Island’s Five Towns to Niagara Falls.  Council funding goes to a wide range of museums and heritage organizations of all sizes and does not overlook smaller institutions in upstate cities and rural areas.
• The Zoos, Botanical Gardens and Aquariums Program received $9 million in FY2011 and has not been reduced in the FY2012 executive budget.   These dollars are a good investment, because they allow organizations with ‘living collections’ to leverage public money against private gifts.  The catalyst of public money is what drives the engine for many museums across New York State.
• Help ensure that SED has a deeper understanding of the museum community it regulates, the challenges it faces, and that it acknowledges the innovation, imagination and success of museum education programs across the state, recognizing that the educational contributions of museums are equal to those of libraries, archives and public broadcasting.

Collaboration and Partnership:

• Create a seat at the economic development table for museums and cultural institutions because they are a driving economic force.  Help museums partner with business executives to find innovative solutions to the challenges of the new economy.
• Uniform highway signage is desperately needed by museums and heritage organizations – indeed all cultural institutions – particularly in smaller communities and rural areas.  Let’s help audiences find these great places!
• Urge government to see museums and heritage organizations like the small businesses that they are.  Yes, they are nonprofits providing communities with important educational and cultural services, but they are also employers facing skyrocketing health care and energy costs.
• Create a fund for cash-strapped museums and historical organizations to buy time for restructuring, thus forestalling the pressure to turn collections into cash.
• Build easy-to-access information about museums and their education programs into State Education Department curriculum standards so that teachers are aware of the programs available to them and are encouraged to use museum resources in classroom instruction.

Innovation and Oversight:

• Appoint a Regent who is a museum professional. Doing so would acknowledge the complexity of museum governance and give an equal voice to a community the Regents charter.
• Help the museum community plan for growth. The Regents grant 20 to 30 provisional charters annually to new museums, but with diminishing resources available and long-established organizations struggling to maintain funding and audience, no organization should enter the field without substantial endowment, making it questionable whether more museums results in better cultural heritage stewardship or education.
• Create a committee that will work with the Attorney General’s office, the bankruptcy courts, Board of Regents, and the Museum Association of New York to address the complex questions surrounding deaccessioning, providing a voice for extraordinary collections imperiled by fiscal crisis, bankruptcy or dissolution.