Open Forum

Good morning Ruth,

As a Peer Reviewer for AAM, I have often had to find this number to encourage sites to "do better" by their collections. It has been a while, but this information use to be in the MAP review information. Perhaps a call to the MAP office at AAM would lead you down the right path.

Good luck and thank you for trying to "do better" for your collection!

All the best,
VivianLea

VivianLea Solek
Archivist
Knights of Columbus Supreme Council Archives

Knights of Columbus Museum
1 State Street
New Haven, CT 06511-6702
Phone 203 752-4578
Fax 203 865-0351

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Original Message------

I am trying to get a sense of the appropriate proportion of the total budget our history museum should budget for collections (supplies, care, storage and staffing).  Our budget is $2.4 million in total. If anyone from a history museum or historic site would be willing to share your percentage, I sure would appreciate it. I know we are lower than we should be and are trying to work toward a benchmark. Ruth Haus

​Hi Ruth: Check out: They just completed benchmarking survey. Its extensive but might have what you are looking for.  New England Museum Association :: Table of Contents

Nemanet		remove preview
New England Museum Association :: Table of Contents Is your membership program your institution's backbone or its bane? Do you find yourself wondering how your membership program costs and benefits compare with your colleagues' successes and struggles? View this on Nemanet >

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Joseph Giso CPA
Partner
Wakefield MA
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-24-2018 09:54 AM
From: Ruth Haus
Subject: Benchmarking Collections budget as a proportion to museum's total budget

I am trying to get a sense of the appropriate proportion of the total budget our history museum should budget for collections (supplies, care, storage and staffing).  Our budget is $2.4 million in total. If anyone from a history museum or historic site would be willing to share your percentage, I sure would appreciate it. I know we are lower than we should be and are trying to work toward a benchmark. Ruth Haus

Hi Ruth:  

This is a great question. In general, museums are terrible at accounting for the cost of collecting and collections maintenance.  There are a number of factors you might want to include such as - operating cost for the square footage of your storage and exhibition areas, staff cost, insurance, supplies, your Collection Management System and its annual maintenance, development and maintenance for any portion of your website that makes collections available.  separating out the cost of exhibitions using collections and collections care may be something to think about in this calculation. Are preparators, for example, a programming cost or a collections care cost?  If the exhibition content was not part of the collection, would we just hire any old person to hammer a nail in the wall?

The most recent (and it is OLD) study that focuses directly on the cost of collecting (except for the NEMA publication recently mentioned that i have not yet read) is Lord, Lord, and Nicks (1989) The Cost of Collecting - which was an extensive study of the cost of collecting in museums in the United Kingdom. 
My dissertation (so close to being published - with copy editor now) tangentially examines this question. What I can tell you is that museums more focused on collections (care, maintenance, insurance, exhibitions, storage, staffing, etc) are less flexible, and less public-oriented.  However, if you peruse the (also very old at this point) Heritage Health Index Heritage Health Index - Full Report you will learn that LOTS of museums expend inadequate resources for collections care.  This is a cautionary tale about bench-marking - comparing your museum to other museums will get you a general idea of how you stack up in this area, but you may be comparing rotten oranges to rotten oranges.  

If you wanted, you might consider asking this question of DataArts  https://culturaldata.org/- they collect information about cultural organizations. I used some of their data for my dissertation project. I don't think the answer would be free, and I'm not sure you'd even be able to tell us what you found, depending on their proprietary restrictions, but boy, this is a question we really need an answer to!

------------------------------
Erin Richardson PhD
Principal
Erin Richardson Consulting
Cooperstown NY
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-24-2018 09:54 AM
From: Ruth Haus
Subject: Benchmarking Collections budget as a proportion to museum's total budget

I am trying to get a sense of the appropriate proportion of the total budget our history museum should budget for collections (supplies, care, storage and staffing).  Our budget is $2.4 million in total. If anyone from a history museum or historic site would be willing to share your percentage, I sure would appreciate it. I know we are lower than we should be and are trying to work toward a benchmark. Ruth Haus

Original Message------

Hi Ruth:  

This is a great question. In general, museums are terrible at accounting for the cost of collecting and collections maintenance.  There are a number of factors you might want to include such as - operating cost for the square footage of your storage and exhibition areas, staff cost, insurance, supplies, your Collection Management System and its annual maintenance, development and maintenance for any portion of your website that makes collections available.  separating out the cost of exhibitions using collections and collections care may be something to think about in this calculation. Are preparators, for example, a programming cost or a collections care cost?  If the exhibition content was not part of the collection, would we just hire any old person to hammer a nail in the wall?

The most recent (and it is OLD) study that focuses directly on the cost of collecting (except for the NEMA publication recently mentioned that i have not yet read) is Lord, Lord, and Nicks (1989) The Cost of Collecting - which was an extensive study of the cost of collecting in museums in the United Kingdom. 
My dissertation (so close to being published - with copy editor now) tangentially examines this question. What I can tell you is that museums more focused on collections (care, maintenance, insurance, exhibitions, storage, staffing, etc) are less flexible, and less public-oriented.  However, if you peruse the (also very old at this point) Heritage Health Index Heritage Health Index - Full Report you will learn that LOTS of museums expend inadequate resources for collections care.  This is a cautionary tale about bench-marking - comparing your museum to other museums will get you a general idea of how you stack up in this area, but you may be comparing rotten oranges to rotten oranges.  

If you wanted, you might consider asking this question of DataArts  https://culturaldata.org/- they collect information about cultural organizations. I used some of their data for my dissertation project. I don't think the answer would be free, and I'm not sure you'd even be able to tell us what you found, depending on their proprietary restrictions, but boy, this is a question we really need an answer to!

------------------------------
Erin Richardson PhD
Principal
Erin Richardson Consulting
Cooperstown NY
------------------------------

Ruth--

This is a great question that really has no answer. You won't find the magic percentage that is ideal for every museum.

The amount you spend on collections really depends on how important collections are to your mission and your institutional priorities. Every museum has to strike its own balance. University museums, where research is a priority, often have a very significant portion of their budgets dedicated to collections.  They also often have substantial endowments or university budget support. Community history museums often must devote resources to exhibits and programs to engage the community and thereby inspire support through memberships and donations. A few history museums have decided to have only minimal collections and to focus on storytelling and outreach.  All of these are valid, meet differing community needs, and will have vastly different amounts allocated to their collections budgets. 

Most of the museums I have worked with have had unmet needs for their collections, whether cataloging, conservation, proper storage, or public access. There is always more to do. Advocating for and finding funding to do better by our collections is probably the most challenging part of a curator's work.

Good luck!

Guy


------------------------------
Guy Hermann
Museum Insights
http://www.museuminsights.com
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-26-2018 09:35 AM
From: Erin Richardson
Subject: Benchmarking Collections budget as a proportion to museum's total budget

Hi Ruth:

This is a great question. In general, museums are terrible at accounting for the cost of collecting and collections maintenance.  There are a number of factors you might want to include such as - operating cost for the square footage of your storage and exhibition areas, staff cost, insurance, supplies, your Collection Management System and its annual maintenance, development and maintenance for any portion of your website that makes collections available.  separating out the cost of exhibitions using collections and collections care may be something to think about in this calculation. Are preparators, for example, a programming cost or a collections care cost?  If the exhibition content was not part of the collection, would we just hire any old person to hammer a nail in the wall?

The most recent (and it is OLD) study that focuses directly on the cost of collecting (except for the NEMA publication recently mentioned that i have not yet read) is Lord, Lord, and Nicks (1989) The Cost of Collecting - which was an extensive study of the cost of collecting in museums in the United Kingdom.
My dissertation (so close to being published - with copy editor now) tangentially examines this question. What I can tell you is that museums more focused on collections (care, maintenance, insurance, exhibitions, storage, staffing, etc) are less flexible, and less public-oriented.  However, if you peruse the (also very old at this point) Heritage Health Index Heritage Health Index - Full Report you will learn that LOTS of museums expend inadequate resources for collections care.  This is a cautionary tale about bench-marking - comparing your museum to other museums will get you a general idea of how you stack up in this area, but you may be comparing rotten oranges to rotten oranges.

If you wanted, you might consider asking this question of DataArts  https://culturaldata.org/- they collect information about cultural organizations. I used some of their data for my dissertation project. I don't think the answer would be free, and I'm not sure you'd even be able to tell us what you found, depending on their proprietary restrictions, but boy, this is a question we really need an answer to!

------------------------------
Erin Richardson PhD
Principal
Erin Richardson Consulting
Cooperstown NY

Original Message:
Sent: 07-24-2018 09:54 AM
From: Ruth Haus
Subject: Benchmarking Collections budget as a proportion to museum's total budget

I am trying to get a sense of the appropriate proportion of the total budget our history museum should budget for collections (supplies, care, storage and staffing).  Our budget is $2.4 million in total. If anyone from a history museum or historic site would be willing to share your percentage, I sure would appreciate it. I know we are lower than we should be and are trying to work toward a benchmark. Ruth Haus

This is an interesting question Ruth and one I have been thinking about since you posted it.  The responses have been excellent and presumably helpful for you.  Thank God I was never asked this question on the job.  My smart-ass response would have been "This year's museum annual budget." 

As the various folks have noted, there can be many, many, many variables, mainly because there are direct care costs and indirect care costs, such as how much time does a CFO spend on collection matters and how is that defined?  Among many other things CFOs are usually responsible for payroll, would their time spent handling that relating to a curator, registrar, maintenance or security person and his or her involvement with collections be discernible?  What about development staff?  Much of the money they raise helps collections.  Then there is the director.  How do we determine how much of his or her time relates to collections?   Museum security is responsible for the safety of people (public and staff), property (buildings and grounds) and collections.  Some collections require more security than others and the percentages will vary depending on what collections are where and why at any given time.   

To a degree, you can decide on whatever number works to your advantage as long as your reasoning sounds reasonable.  Who will argue?  My big fear with this question is where does it come from and why?  If a trustee(s) is asking, I might be immediately suspicious.  Where is the person headed with the inquiry?  There can be a governance mindset that thinks collections must pay for themselves otherwise why have them.   Whatever it costs to care for them, the response is the same - why have them if they don't contribute to their survival?  How is that supposed to happen?  The answers are Through income producing exhibitions; profitable photo-reproduction services; research fees; lending fees; and, sadly, deaccession sale.  If there are no trustees instigating this question, you are to be applauded for trying to get a fix on how to raise the funds available to care for your collections.  They are costly to maintain and use and few museums have ample resources.  

Regard,

Steve

------------------------------
Steven Miller
Executive Director Ret.
Boscobel House and Gardens
Garrison NY
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-27-2018 11:27 AM
From: Guy Hermann
Subject: Benchmarking Collections budget as a proportion to museum's total budget

Ruth--

This is a great question that really has no answer. You won't find the magic percentage that is ideal for every museum.

The amount you spend on collections really depends on how important collections are to your mission and your institutional priorities. Every museum has to strike its own balance. University museums, where research is a priority, often have a very significant portion of their budgets dedicated to collections.  They also often have substantial endowments or university budget support. Community history museums often must devote resources to exhibits and programs to engage the community and thereby inspire support through memberships and donations. A few history museums have decided to have only minimal collections and to focus on storytelling and outreach.  All of these are valid, meet differing community needs, and will have vastly different amounts allocated to their collections budgets.

Most of the museums I have worked with have had unmet needs for their collections, whether cataloging, conservation, proper storage, or public access. There is always more to do. Advocating for and finding funding to do better by our collections is probably the most challenging part of a curator's work.

Good luck!

Guy


------------------------------
Guy Hermann
Museum Insights
http://www.museuminsights.com

Original Message:
Sent: 07-26-2018 09:35 AM
From: Erin Richardson
Subject: Benchmarking Collections budget as a proportion to museum's total budget

Hi Ruth:

This is a great question. In general, museums are terrible at accounting for the cost of collecting and collections maintenance.  There are a number of factors you might want to include such as - operating cost for the square footage of your storage and exhibition areas, staff cost, insurance, supplies, your Collection Management System and its annual maintenance, development and maintenance for any portion of your website that makes collections available.  separating out the cost of exhibitions using collections and collections care may be something to think about in this calculation. Are preparators, for example, a programming cost or a collections care cost?  If the exhibition content was not part of the collection, would we just hire any old person to hammer a nail in the wall?

The most recent (and it is OLD) study that focuses directly on the cost of collecting (except for the NEMA publication recently mentioned that i have not yet read) is Lord, Lord, and Nicks (1989) The Cost of Collecting - which was an extensive study of the cost of collecting in museums in the United Kingdom.
My dissertation (so close to being published - with copy editor now) tangentially examines this question. What I can tell you is that museums more focused on collections (care, maintenance, insurance, exhibitions, storage, staffing, etc) are less flexible, and less public-oriented.  However, if you peruse the (also very old at this point) Heritage Health Index Heritage Health Index - Full Report you will learn that LOTS of museums expend inadequate resources for collections care.  This is a cautionary tale about bench-marking - comparing your museum to other museums will get you a general idea of how you stack up in this area, but you may be comparing rotten oranges to rotten oranges.

If you wanted, you might consider asking this question of DataArts  https://culturaldata.org/- they collect information about cultural organizations. I used some of their data for my dissertation project. I don't think the answer would be free, and I'm not sure you'd even be able to tell us what you found, depending on their proprietary restrictions, but boy, this is a question we really need an answer to!

------------------------------
Erin Richardson PhD
Principal
Erin Richardson Consulting
Cooperstown NY

Original Message:
Sent: 07-24-2018 09:54 AM
From: Ruth Haus
Subject: Benchmarking Collections budget as a proportion to museum's total budget

I am trying to get a sense of the appropriate proportion of the total budget our history museum should budget for collections (supplies, care, storage and staffing).  Our budget is $2.4 million in total. If anyone from a history museum or historic site would be willing to share your percentage, I sure would appreciate it. I know we are lower than we should be and are trying to work toward a benchmark. Ruth Haus