Did You Know?

• There are approximately 850 million visits each year to American museums, more than the attendance for all major league sporting events and theme parks combined (483 million in 2011).
• Museums spend more than $2 billion a year on education activities; the typical museum devotes three-quarters of its education budget to K-12 students
• Museums employ more than 400,000 Americans.
• The nonprofit arts and culture industry annually generates over $135 billion in economic activity, supports more than 4 million full-time jobs, and returns over $22 billion in local, state, and federal tax revenues.
• Governments that support the arts see an average return on investment of over $7 in taxes for every $1 that the government appropriates.

And Yet…Museums Are Struggling to Meet Community Needs

• Only a small (and shrinking) percentage of America’s 17,500+ museums receive federal funding of any kind.
• The weak economy has led to declines in charitable gifts and reductions in state and local support for museums.

How Can You Help?  Advocate!

You don’t have to be in Washington, D.C., to make a difference. Let your legislators know how you feel about supporting our cultural institutions.  Use the links to the right to find your legislators and contact them.

Learn About the Issues facing Museums around the Country

IMLS Office of Museum Services

IMLS is the primary federal agency responsible for helping museums connect people to information and ideas. Its Office of Museum Services (OMS) supports all types of museums— including aquariums, arboretums, art museums, botanical gardens, children’s museums, historic sites, history museums, military museums, natural history museums, nature centers, planetariums, science & technology centers, zoos, and more—in their work to educate students, preserve collections, coordinate resources, and digitize collections. The IMLS strategic plan for 2012-2016 aims to help museums place the learner at the center of the museum experience, promote museums as strong community anchors, support museum stewardship of their collections, advise the President and Congress on how to sustain and increase public access to information and ideas, and to be a model independent federal agency maximizing value for the American public

Charitable Giving

Charitable giving is the lifeblood of museums of all sizes and disciplines; it accounts for more than one-third of their operating funds. With economic uncertainty limiting ticket revenues and spending cuts at all levels of government, limits on the charitable deduction could devastate many museums’ budgets.

Elementary and Secondary Education

Each year, museums spend more than $2.2 billion on educational programming and provide more than 18 million instructional hours to students and teachers. Educational programming and experiences in museums foster critical, creative and innovative thinking, addressing national education initiatives such as 21st Century Skills and STEM/STEAM. These skills are essential to lifelong learning and an active democratic society.

 

Participate in advocacy for museums every day of the year!

Send a letter to your members of Congress about issues affecting museums.