Director of Advancement Opportunity Guide 3124 - Flipbook - Page 3
THE OPPORTUNIT Y
Combining science center content with a modern children’s museum, The Museum 昀椀lls the void
for early childhood education and
science learning in Washington,
D. C. and captures the curiosity in young innovators before
career aspirations are created.
Under the leadership of Crystal
Bowyer, CEO since 2017, the
Museum has 昀椀nally been able to
live up to its designation as the
only National Children’s Museum. While the Museum is designated by Congress, it does not
receive federal funding like the
Smithsonian Museums and others on the National Mall. This
has required Museum leadership
to secure philanthropic support
to sustain operations. Currently
approximately 55% of the budget is generated through earned
revenue (admissions, events,
etc.) and the remainder through
philanthropy.
While National Children’s
Museum opened its doors in
the current building just a couple of years ago, the Museum
is already planning to expand
its footprint. This will require
launching a capital campaign in
the next few years. Additionally, the Museum will also be celebrating its 50th Anniversary in
2024, creating a special moment
to build visibility and donor engagement. It is anticipated that
the Museum will see 200,000300,000 guests this year and
has already hosted visitors from
all 50 states. Since February
2020, the Museum has reached
more than 7,000,000 people
through digital initiatives. These
digital offerings include virtual
昀椀eld trips used by educators in
all 50 states, at-home science
videos, and a podcast series
with a 14% international listenership from 6 continents.
Individual donors give a range
of gifts from $100-$10,000. The
goal is to grow the number of donors at all levels. Membership
provides a strong foundation to
grow the donor pipeline. Members receive free admission, access to special events, and a variety of other bene昀椀ts based on
membership level. A basic Family Membership is $225 per year.
Since reopening in September
2021, the membership community has more than doubled
in size, with over 2,000 current
members from 27 states across
the country. To date in FY22, the
Museum’s membership program
makes up 13% of all earned revenue for the institution.
Growing the base of support
from individual donors and institutional funders are key opportunities going forward. It is expected that the development strategy
will focus on creative efforts to
increase support from new, current and lapsed individual and institutional funders. With a strong
leadership team in place and
plans for continued growth and
expansion, the opportunity is ripe
for an entrepreneurial, collaborative, relationship builder to ensure a donor-centric fundraising
approach resulting in continued
growth of the Museum’s reach
and impact.