Searching for Juneteenth: The State of Black Museums — Part II

NONPROFIT QUARTERLY
By Rick Cohen

Many black museums face significant financial challenges, but that hasn’t stopped people in communities small and large from attempting to get museums established and operating. One-fifth of all revenues supporting arts and museums come from individual donors. While allowing for funds with multiple purposes, only 12 of the 75 African-American funds included the arts as one of their giving priorities, compared to 54 for education, 34 for economic empowerment, 24 for health, and 19 for children and youth. If the African-American community of this nation is going to educate others about the centrality of race in American history and the importance of African-American culture in the past and going forward, the ultimate success of fundraising for black museums may be in connecting with and mobilizing large numbers of African-American charitable givers and not waiting for seven-figure grants from Oprah. [link]


Editor's Note: This is the second of a two-part series on how African-American museums in the U.S. are faring amidst the competition for foundation, charitable, and governmental resources. Part I was an overview of the issues and challenges facing black museums; this piece examines the sources of funding and the strategies that some museums are using to survive and thrive.