RUSSIA     2008  

Kostroma
September 29-October 2, 2008

The Kostroma Regional Art Museum invited The Fund to present a workshop on museum marketing and fundraising to museum professionals in the Kostroma Oblast. Sally Yerkovich, President of The Fund, and Deborah Edward, co-founder and past Executive Director of the Austin Children’s Museum, led the seminar. They were hosted by Natalia Victorovna Pavlichkova, Director of the Kostroma Art Museum, and Larissa Stanislavovna Goncharova, Deputy Director of the Kostroma Art Museum.

Thirty-one participants represented nature preserves, art museums, museums of regionalism, municipal museums, a museum of literature, and departments/branches of the Kostroma Museum. Many had already been involved in some marketing and fundraising on behalf of their institutions and were interested in learning how to engage audiences and donors in museum activities.

Ms. Yerkovich gave a presentation on The New Jersey Historical Society and described how she ensured sustainability by attracting new audiences, diversifying programs, creating new visitor-focused programs and exhibitions, and attracting stronger funding support. Ms. Edward led a discussion about why people visit museums and introduced the concept of using cross-community themes to inspire programming and marketing. The participants divided into working groups to identify programmatic themes that would inspire collaborative programs and joint marketing projects. Their themes reflected the region, focusing upon the oblast’s forests and rivers, its unique crafts, and traditional ways of making a living there.

A slide show on the Austin Children’s Museum provoked discussion of visitor-centered and collections-centered interpretation. The groups used their themes to develop multi-faceted programs to attract specific audiences. They spent time preparing presentations to the larger group by creating elaborate and lively graphic representations of their programs and their marketing ideas.

These activities provided a basis for discussion and presentation about sources of support. Ms. Yerkovich led a conversation about setting up development systems by using examples of what to do and what not to do from her museum experiences, while Ms. Edward gave examples of how to conduct focus groups and presented a tool for creating a marketing plan. Both Fund consultants described various models for board and community leadership. The participants were particularly interested in the logistics of setting up a development office and organizing a systematic development plan for their museums.

The seminar ended with group presentations. Each group identified how they would approach marketing and fundraising differently as a result of what they had learned. It became quickly evident that the participants had fully absorbed the central themes of the seminar. One group had initially stated that they were interested in attracting more people, more money, and more people with money to their museums. At the conclusion of the seminar, this group said that now understood how to begin a dialogue with their potential sponsors as well as systematic ways to make this dialogue effective. A second group had stated that they wanted to become equal partners with their sponsors; however, they realized that they can not just ask for money but that they need to do research on their potential donors’ interests and patterns of support.

Final evaluations were unanimously positive. Individuals mentioned that they especially appreciated working in teams. They praised the seminar for its organization and energy. When asked what other topics they might like to see addressed in future seminars they mentioned educational programs for children, museum merchandising, interpretive design methods that go beyond guided tours, and how to build collections about contemporary history and art. Ms. Pavlichkovna is eager to see participants begin to work more independently, especially in terms of fund raising, and it appears they will do just that.

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