In the United States, museums are served by six regional museum associations that are associated (allied?) with the American Alliance of Museums (AAM):
- Association of Midwest Museums (AMM)
- Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums (MAAM)
- Mountain-Plains Museums Association (MPMA)
- New England Museum Association (NEMA)
- Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC)
- Western Museums Association (WMA)
While AAM is doing well with about $10 million in annual revenues and net assets of $2 million, the regional museum associations are much much smaller by comparison. Their annual revenues range from $70,000 to $600,000, which is 1-7% of AAM’s annual revenues (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Chart of revenues for regional museum associations in the US, FY 2014-16.
That might be acceptable given these associations serve a few states rather than all 50, but a further analysis of their financial condition in fiscal years 2014-2016 suggests that their health is decidedly mixed: Continue reading
