The November Question of the Month was in response to a member’s
query about what other institutions expect of trustees in terms of
financial contributions and participation. Here’s what you told
us:
Financial Contribution
Eighty-two percent (82%) of respondents reported that their
institution does not stipulate specific levels of annual support
from its trustees. Of the 21% of respondents indicating their
institution does stipulate annual support, 18% articulate
financial expectations in a written document, such as a trustee
job description or other written guidelines, a letter from the
board chair, in bylaws or minutes.
Expectations of support are overwhelmingly found in 1)
membership and in 2) fundraising events. Among institutions will
general operating budgets less than $200,000, our respondents
reported that the expected baseline for a membership contribution
ranged from $25 - $50. Responding institutions in the $200,000 -
$420,000 budget category reported no specific giving levels for
membership, but do require financial participation in fundraising
events, such as purchasing tickets to the event at a cost of
$500-$750 per person.
Less than half of respondents indicated that their institution
stipulated trustee participation in annual operating campaigns or
capital campaigns. Expectations ran the gamut from $500 per
trustee per year to a formal annual $10K trustee-wide campaign.
One respondent noted that board members must be "willing
to consider" a capital gift at the 6-7 figure level.
One $140K budget institution reported that, despite no
policy-based expectations, annual contributions "probably
average around $500 for a board member."
Participation
Respondents were more evenly split regarding stipulating levels
of participation from their trustees: 55% said they do not
stipulate levels; 45% said they do.
|
Area of Expected Trustee Participation |
% of Respondents Reporting Yes |
|
Board meeting attendance |
100% |
|
Committee/task force participation |
93% |
|
Special event attendance |
67% |
|
Representing the museum at community events |
27% |
|
Volunteering at the museum in a non-board capacity |
13% |
Twenty-three percent (23%) of respondents reported that
participation levels are stipulated in their bylaws; 31% reported
that participation levels are addressed in job descriptions; 8%
reported that participation levels can be found in the minutes;
and an astounding 31% reported that these expectations are not
found in a written document - we can only assume that oral
tradition is strong! Fifteen percent (15%) reported that they
wished their institution would develop some written benchmarks or
that their institution is in the throes of writing them.
Two respondents pointed out that while written expectations are
important, they must be enforced in order to be really useful. We’d
love to hear your thoughts about enforcement, so email us at info@manyonline.org,
and we’ll pass your suggestions along.
