Finance and Funding of Swiss Museums
Partners
VMS Verband der Museen der Schweiz
ZHAW, Center for Arts Management, Dr. Diana Betzler
Stefan Aschwanden, lic. phil., DAS Fundraising Management
Fribourg University, Prof. Dr. Markus Gmür
Project Duration
2010 - 2014
Desciption
What are the sources of funding for museums in Switzerland? What are the influencing factors?
With regard to fundraising, the museum scene in Switzerland can above all build on the distinctive patronage tradition, because some museums would not have been possible without the involvement of private collectors. In addition, many museums are strongly connected to society and are supported by volunteers. To date it was unclear, what financial importance fundraising has in Swiss museums. The specifics of fundraising management at museums have not yet been researched.
Survey objectives were:
How high is fundraising income? How much is invested in fundraising? How efficient is fundraising?
Who are the donors?
Under what conditions do museums fundraise? Which fundraising measures and instruments are used? How professionalized is fundraising at Swiss museums?
What attitudes do museums have towards fundraising?
What developments do the museums expect in the coming years?
The survey project was the first step in the study. In the second step, the conceptual link to current research and an in-depth statistical analysis is carried out using statistical classification methods and regression methods.
Results
In the Survey, 244 museums in Switzerland were asked about their fundraising situation. In general, the fundraising income has only increased slightly between 2003 and 2009. Around forty percent of the museums surveyed are actively raising funds. The main donors are the lottery fund, the members of the support association, and foundations. Both, the amount of fundraising income and the use of fundraising instruments as well as the efficiency of fundraising are still low compared to other non-profit organizations.
The fundraising practice is very heterogeneous. There are a few larger museums with professional structures. In general, the management is still mainly responsible for fundraising and no professional fundraiser is employed. Overall, the level of professionalization in fundraising management can be seen as low. The use of fundraising instruments is strongly adapted to the museum specifics; classic fundraising instruments are, rarely used, the roles of the board members are important. The resources for professional fundraising are usually lacking, but the importance of fundraising will increase in the coming years, according to the opinions of the museums surveyed.
Publications
Betzler, Diana (2015). "Factors of Board Governance, and Fundraising Success - The Composition of Swiss Museum Boards Does Matter." Journal of Cultural Economy, 8 (2), 144-165.
Betzler, Diana, and Markus Gmür (2012). "Towards fund-raising excellence in museums: - linking governance with performance." International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 17 (3), 275–292.
Betzler, Diana (2012). "Fundraising-Reifegrad und Performance an Museen." In Performance Management in Nonprofit-Organisationen., herausgegeben von Gmür, Markus, Reinbert Schauer, und Ludwig Theuvsen. Zürich: Haupt, 292-302.
Betzler Diana, und Stefan Aschwanden (2011). "Ergebnisse der Befragung Fundraising an Museen in der Schweiz" Winterthur: ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften. Verfügbar unter: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-164.
Presentations
Betzler, Diana (2012). "Towards Fundraising Excellence in Museums - Linking Governance with Performance", International Conference of the International Society of Third Sector Research (ISTR), Siena, peer-reviewed.
Betzler, Diana (2012). "Mehr Fundraising-Erfolg an Museen. Die Beziehung zwischen Governance und Fundraising Performance" 10. Internationales NPO-Colloquium 29.-30. März 2012, Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät der Universität Fribourg/Freiburg.
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam