Fully funded
/
Recently a new friend of LATDA was sharing the Museum with another friend who asked her if we had been funded yet or received any grants. This seems to be the first question on everyone’s mind; where is our money coming from? It is a prudent question for anyone to ask before deciding to commit any of his/her own hard-earned cash to anything. But let me tell you about founding a museum – there are many different ways to do it. I have worked at two with very different origins.
One was started by a very wealthy individual with a personal art collection. He had many wealthy friends who were happy to pool their business talents to help him get his museum up and running. He gave his friends and family positions of authority and searched for the right pool of museum-making talent along the way.
The other was started by a group of WWII veterans who felt they had an important story to share with the public. They didn’t have any museum background, but they had very strong beliefs in what they were doing. Their first fundraiser was a ‘casino night’ in an old warehouse. They were smart enough to invite a city official to their grass roots fundraiser who eventually helped them secure the lease of an abandoned building in downtown Los Angeles. They worked on a community level, spreading the word of what they were trying to do, assembling a collection in the process and eventually building a membership of 30,000, some who have never set foot in the building but support it because they believe in the mission statement.
Obviously LATDA does not fit the former profile. We more closely resemble the latter, although we do have museum experience. We also have big picture mentality, long-range vision, and a creative approach to problem solving. What we do not have are lots of wealthy friends. But we hope that we have enough good friends who believe in what we are doing enough to invest in this much-needed dream.
We are starting a fundraising drive this month. We need to show the IRS that we have public support in order to maintain our non-profit status. If you haven’t received an email from us and simply follow our blog, please consider supporting us by becoming a member. Let us know how much you love the idea of a toy museum like LATDA. We will keep you posted as to our progress this month via blog. Join us today!
One was started by a very wealthy individual with a personal art collection. He had many wealthy friends who were happy to pool their business talents to help him get his museum up and running. He gave his friends and family positions of authority and searched for the right pool of museum-making talent along the way.
The other was started by a group of WWII veterans who felt they had an important story to share with the public. They didn’t have any museum background, but they had very strong beliefs in what they were doing. Their first fundraiser was a ‘casino night’ in an old warehouse. They were smart enough to invite a city official to their grass roots fundraiser who eventually helped them secure the lease of an abandoned building in downtown Los Angeles. They worked on a community level, spreading the word of what they were trying to do, assembling a collection in the process and eventually building a membership of 30,000, some who have never set foot in the building but support it because they believe in the mission statement.
Obviously LATDA does not fit the former profile. We more closely resemble the latter, although we do have museum experience. We also have big picture mentality, long-range vision, and a creative approach to problem solving. What we do not have are lots of wealthy friends. But we hope that we have enough good friends who believe in what we are doing enough to invest in this much-needed dream.
We are starting a fundraising drive this month. We need to show the IRS that we have public support in order to maintain our non-profit status. If you haven’t received an email from us and simply follow our blog, please consider supporting us by becoming a member. Let us know how much you love the idea of a toy museum like LATDA. We will keep you posted as to our progress this month via blog. Join us today!