Wooing a New Generation of Museum Patrons
Several hundred millennials mingled under the soaring atrium of the Guggenheim Museum
on Fifth Avenue one recent frigid February night. Weaving around them
were black-clad servers bearing silver trays piled high with doughnuts,
while a pixieish D.J. spun Daft Punk remixes.
The
occasion was the museum’s annual Young Collectors Party, and the
increasingly tipsy crowd thronged in a space usually filled with
visitors eager to see the 73-year-old institution’s priceless artworks.
But on this night, the galleries displaying an exhibition of Italian
Futurism were mostly cordoned off. Instead, youthful, glamorous and
moneyed New Yorkers were the main attraction.
Many
museums, including the Guggenheim, view events like this as central to
their public programming. They get a new generation through the front
door and keep potentially staid institutions relevant with a cultural
landscape in flux.
But
events like this are also, at some level, central to the future
financial health of the museum. Before the Young Collectors Party,
museum executives held an exclusive dinner for a select group of young
donors already contributing at a high level. If all goes well, some of
those in attendance will one day become trustees of the Guggenheim.
Together, the dinner and the party took the museum one step closer to
cementing relationships with these rising philanthropists and their
friends.
“You
don’t just go on the board overnight,” said Catherine Dunn, the
Guggenheim’s deputy director of advancement. “You engage people in the
life of the museum so that they can ultimately join the board.”
Across
the country, museums large and small are preparing for the eventual
passing of the baton from the baby boom generation, which for decades
has been the lifeblood not only of individual giving but of boardroom
leadership. Yet it is far from clear whether the children of baby
boomers are prepared to replicate the efforts of their parents.
While
charitable giving in the United States has remained stable for the last
40 years, there is reason for concern. Boomers today control 70 percent
of the nation’s disposable income, according to data compiled
by the American Alliance of Museums. Millennials don’t yet have nearly
as much cash on hand. And those who do, the alliance found, are
increasingly drawn to social, rather than artistic, causes.
Now,
as wealth becomes more concentrated, tax laws change and a younger
generation develops new philanthropic priorities, museums — like other
nonprofit organizations — are confronting what, if unaddressed, could
become an existential crisis.
“The
generational shift is something a lot of museums are talking about,”
said Ford W. Bell, president of the American Alliance of Museums. “The
traditional donors are either dying, stepping back or turning it over to
their children or grandchildren.”
Generational
change is always occurring as new blood takes the place of the old. But
as the boomers’ children take over, there is concern among
administrators and trustees that millennials are not poised to meet the
financial and leadership demands of increasingly complex — and expensive
— museums.
“We’re
not just talking about replacing one generation with another
generation,” said Kaywin Feldman, director of the Minneapolis Institute
of Arts. “We’re talking about a new generation that behaves so
differently than the last one.”
Two-thirds of millennials want specific information about how their dollars will “make a difference,” according to the 2011 Millennial Donors Report. That can pose a problem for museums, which rely on individual donations to support everyday operations and build endowments.
“Younger
philanthropists and donors today are looking for measurable results,”
Mr. Bell said. “It used to be you gave because it was the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
But today younger donors have a lot of things they can give to. They
ask what the impact is going to be and how you’re going to measure that
impact. The Rockefellers gave, but they weren’t looking for specific
metrics.”
Moreover,
many are disinclined to contribute to long-term capital campaigns. “An
older generation of philanthropists really understood the value of an
endowment,” said Maureen Robinson, a member of the Museum Group, a
consortium of senior museum professionals. “But endowments are looked at
by younger people as dead money. They think, ‘I’m giving you a dollar
to do something different.’ ”
What
is more, there is a swelling debate about the merits of different types
of charitable giving, with many arguing that arts institutions are less
deserving than social and health causes. Writing in The New York Times
last year, the philosopher Peter Singer said that “a donation to prevent trachoma offers at least 10 times the value of giving to the museum.”
This
line of thinking is “a matter of some dismay to a generation that
worked to build out community engagement in museums,” Ms. Robinson said.
“All these things are great, but it’s as though museums appear to
represent a lesser value and less moral use of time.”
And
not only are 20- and 30-somethings today more interested in social
causes like education, the environment and international aid than they
are in the arts, but because of shifting demographics, there may simply
be fewer wealthy young patrons to write checks.
“We’re
seeing some significant changes in income distribution,” said Dan
Monroe, director of the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass. “You’ve got
a shrinking middle class. And there’s a huge amount of wealth and
philanthropic capability that is centered in a smaller number of people
than was previously the case.”
Already anticipating this generational changing of the guard, some museums are racing to pursue younger donors and trustees.
At
the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, 75 percent of the board
membership has turned over in the last seven years. That has brought new
life to the Walker, which focuses on modern and contemporary art. But
it has also meant the loss of several stalwarts who could be relied on
for big checks and sage advice.
“Most
of the oldest generation has completely gone off,” said the Walker’s
director, Olga Viso. In its place, Ms. Viso said, a group of trustees in
their 50s and 60s has moved into senior leadership roles and begun
giving at higher levels, while a younger group of trustees in their
early 40s and even late 30s has joined the board.
Among
the more youthful members Ms. Viso has recruited of late are John
Christakos, founder of the furniture company Blu Dot, who is in his late
40s and serves as the Walker board’s treasurer, and Monica Nassif, the
founder of the fragrance and cleaning companies Caldrea and Mrs. Meyers
Clean Day.
As
well as being proactive, another way to attract young donors and
trustees is to be a cultural powerhouse. Many prominent art museums in
major metropolitan areas, in particular, are so far navigating this
transition with ease.
“The very big institutions are doing very well,” said Ms. Robinson of the Museum Group. “They have a gravitational field.”
Take
the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which has well-oiled machinery
for cultivating young patrons and turning the exceptional ones into
trustees at MoMA or its sister institution, PS1.
“We’ve
been doing this since 1949,” said Todd Bishop, MoMA’s senior deputy
director of external affairs. That was the year that it set up the
Junior Council, a group for young patrons. MoMA refreshed the effort in
1990 with the founding of the Junior Associates, a membership group open
to those 40 years old and younger.
At
a recent Junior Associates event, about 50 young patrons gathered to
sip white wine in the museum’s lobby after work, giant Brice Marden
paintings looming over the makeshift bar. The occasion was a private
tour of MoMA’s retrospective of the German sculptor Isa Genzken, hardly
the most accessible show.
After
45 minutes of schmoozing, the Junior Associates dutifully followed
Laura Hoptman, the curator, on a walk-through of the sometimes jarring
exhibition. Ms. Hoptman spoke of Ms. Genzken’s “physicalization of sound
waves” and the artist’s battles with depression.
Not
all of the Junior Associates were impressed, but others delighted in
the access. David Snider, 28, grew up in Boston, where his parents were
involved with the Institute of Contemporary Art. Mr. Snider, who works
at a real estate website, has recruited 10 friends to the Junior
Associates since joining, and said the group’s events “resonate with
people because it’s not just another happy hour.”
“There are very few Junior Associate events where two-thirds of the time isn’t about learning,” he said.
At
the end of the tour, with young patrons standing amid Ms. Genzken’s
flamboyant sculptures, Ms. Hoptman implored the young guests to stay
involved with MoMA, and keep giving. “It’s groups like the Junior
Associates that allow us to do this, to keep pushing,” she said.
Absent
this tireless wooing of a younger generation, museums can quickly slip
up. The Delaware Art Museum is facing funding challenges now, in part
because of the erosion of individual giving by moneyed locals.
Wilmington,
where the museum is, has fallen on hard times, and the wealthy families
that once supported the arts there have seen their fortunes divided up
over a number of generations.
“This is a scenario that’s playing out in other places as well,” said Mr. Bell of the American Alliance of Museums.
This
year, the museum of Randolph College in Lynchburg, Va., was moved to
sell a painting by George Bellows for $25.5 million to fund its
endowment, a task usually met by donors.
Hoping to avoid the plight of Delaware, some museums have doubled down on recruiting new board leadership in recent years.
Donald
Fisher, the late co-founder of Gap and a longtime board member of the
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, was particularly passionate about
the issue.
The
museum’s director, Neal Benezra, remembers that at a board meeting
eight years ago, Mr. Fisher pounded his fist on the table and said: “We
need to prepare for this and we shouldn’t be nominating anyone over the
age of 50!”
The
museum has not followed Mr. Fisher’s advice to the letter. “But it was a
powerful statement,” Mr. Benezra said. “And Don, as was often the case,
was not wrong.”
Since
then, the museum has worked hard to rejuvenate its board, with half of
the trustee positions turning over in the last 10 years. Mr. Benezra
hosts regular dinners for potential young board members, introducing
them to longtime trustees including Mr. Fisher’s son, Robert, and
Charles Schwab, the financier.
“It’s
a way of engaging in a very personal way people who are already close
to the museum and getting them to understand what the experience of
trusteeship might mean,” Mr. Benezra said.
Among
the new faces in the San Francisco museum’s boardroom are Marissa
Mayer, the Yahoo chief executive, and the prominent entrepreneur Dave
Morin. Those additions represent the museum’s success in forging ties
with the technology industry, which is minting thousands of new
millionaires in the Bay Area.
A
similar story has played out across the country in recent years. In
Boston, which has also enjoyed a boom in venture capital and
biotechnology investment, the Institute of Contemporary Art has embarked
on a refashioning of its board at the same time it built its first
permanent building ever, a waterfront structure designed by Diller
Scofidio and Renfro.
“While
we were building a new building, it was critical that we build a
community in Boston to support contemporary art,” said the institute’s
director, Jill Medvedow. “We tried to find people that were not already
on other boards. We looked to the venture, tech and biotech communities.
And we managed to transform the board of trustees.”
Thanks
to those new faces on the board, Ms. Medvedow was also able to bolster
the institute’s endowment, increasing it from $1 million when she took
over in 1998 to $20 million today. Nearly half of that came from people
under the age of 50, she said.
Among
the younger trustees are Jonathan Seelig, co-founder of Akami
Technologies; Rich Miner, a co-founder of Android, the operating system
acquired by Google; and Hal Hess, an executive of American Tower, the
cellphone company.
Mr.
Hess was initially drawn to postwar American painting, but, with some
hand-holding by the institute’s curatorial staff, grew to love
contemporary art as well. He is now on the finance committee, where he
has gotten to work closely with James Foster, a more seasoned board
member who is chief executive of the pharmaceutical company Charles
River Laboratories. “It’s given me an opportunity to be involved at much
deeper level,” Mr. Hess said.
Such mentorships are a hallmark of effective board succession plans.
“You’re
not born a philanthropist,” Mr. Benezra said. “With a board that’s 65
members strong, it’s very easy for new members to feel unengaged.”
To
avoid any alienation, many museums encourage new trustees to join
committees as a way of working with other board members and learning the
ropes.
The
former Wells Fargo chief executive Richard Kovacevich is chairman of
the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s finance committee, allowing
younger trustees to learn from a legend. “They observe how they think,
how they act, how they interact with the staff,” Mr. Benezra said.
“Mentoring is a big part of what we do. It’s how newly elected trustees
find their way.”
Another
accommodation made for younger trustees — who may still be in the prime
of their careers — is the division of responsibilities. At the Peabody
Essex Museum, for example, the board has two young co-chairmen — Samuel
Byrne and Sean Healey — instead of one leader.
“They’re
still building their careers and fortunes, and this allows us to divide
responsibilities and provide coverage for people who are extremely busy
and lead very demanding lives,” said Mr. Monroe, the Peabody’s
director. “It’s worked very well for us, even though it’s unorthodox.”
And
while in some cities, like Wilmington, family wealth fractures over the
decades, many fortunes remain intact across generations.
In
Minneapolis, the money made by the Dayton family, which founded the
Target Corporation, continues to have an impact at both of the city’s
major art museums.
Advertisement
Bruce
Dayton, 95, is still on the board of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts
after 72 years, making him, the institute says, the longest-serving
trustee at an American museum. His son Mark, the governor of Minnesota,
has an honorary seat on the board. And Mark’s son Eric, who is in his
early 30s, is among the youngest members of the institute’s board.
Members
of the Dayton clan also remain involved at the Walker. James Dayton,
49, is the current board president, having become a trustee when he was
just 41.
However, the changing priorities of today’s youth are reflected in the concerns of the various generations of the Dayton family.
“When
I talk to Bruce Dayton about the best moments of the museum, he talks
about the meeting when we acquired the Bonnard,” said Ms. Feldman, the
Minneapolis institute’s director. “That’s not the focus of his grandson,
Eric, who works with us much more on audience engagement, the M.I.A.’s
brand and attracting new audiences.”
And
when the San Francisco museum realized it had to shut down its existing
building to begin a huge expansion, in part to display the Fisher
family collection, it turned to its board for advice on how to proceed
in the interim. Instead of renting one space as a temporary home, the
museum decided to engage in a series of public programs that would bring
the collection into the community.
The
young designer Yves Béhar, then on the board, became involved with the
process and helped develop a program for Los Altos, a city in Silicon
Valley, where the museum currently has 10 installations on display.
“It probably wouldn’t have happened without him,” Mr. Benezra said.
Yet
as young professionals jump from job to job, taking their families
across the country, many museums are having a harder time forging
lasting ties with community leaders.
“It’s
a significant challenge for us,” said Mr. Monroe of the Peabody Essex,
noting that his museum was still fortunate to have strong support from
donors in Boston.
Also
exacerbating matters is that in recent decades, jobs, professionals and
wealth have concentrated in urban areas, leaving smaller regional
institutions in the lurch.
At
the Walker, Ms. Viso had a wonderful young patron who was working at 3M
and getting progressively more involved with the museum. But after a
few years he accepted a job at Pepsi and moved to New York.
“In
the corporate community in particular, there’s a lot more transition
and change,” Ms. Viso said. “It’s not the norm for people to stay here
for 20 years anymore.”
Ms.
Robinson of the Museum Group noted that in some colder climates, older
trustees were now fleeing during the winters, making them less reliable
board members. Some of these snow birds then forge relationships with
museums in balmier locations, like Miami, which has a vibrant arts
community.
“The
transience issue will come back to haunt everybody,” Ms. Robinson said.
“Institutions need steady, lifelong relationships with supporters, and
the opposite ends of the age spectrum are equally mobile, but for
different reasons.”
Other demographic changes are also at play, forcing museums to rethink the future of their boards and major donor bases.
“Many
museums are white both literally and figuratively,” said Mr. Bell of
the American Alliance of Museums, noting a dearth of diversity at the
highest levels of many museums.
And a new generation, raised on pop culture, is not always eager to support niche collections.
“If
a museum’s primary collection area is antiquities, its not so easy to
find young people to join that board,” said Robert Fisher of the San
Francisco museum board.
All
these changes are coming to a head as museums see their funding mix
gradually change. Instead of relying on a handful of major donors to
carry the museum each year, many are trying to nurture an “Obama
fund-raising model” — smaller donations from a vastly larger audience.
Ultimately,
however, museums may have to accept that the next generation coming
into positions of power may simply be less generous to museums than the
baby boomers have been.
“It’s
one thing if you grew up in a philanthropic household,” Robert Fisher
said. “But to expect that young people will turn around and start making
million-dollar gifts because someone asks them to is unreasonable.
Someone who’s 35 and made a lot of money may not give it away until
they’re 50. It takes patience.”
Yet on balance, museum directors and their trustees think that, with time, millennials will rise to the challenge.
“I’m
certainly optimistic,” said Mr. Schwab of the San Francisco museum. “If
not, museums will degenerate and will eventually fall into the hands of
government budgets and be in a death spiral. I hope that’s not the
case.”
Correction: March 25, 2014
An article on Thursday about efforts by art museums to attract a new generation of benefactors incorrectly included the Detroit Institute of Arts among financially ailing museums that are under pressure to sell art from their collections to help fund their operations. While the Art Institute faced the threat of having part of its city-owned art collection sold, the money from the sale would have gone to the city in its bankruptcy proceedings, not to the museum itself. The article also referred incompletely to the source of pledges intended to avert such a sale. The pledges came from local and national foundations as well as from the museum itself, not just from local groups.
An article on Thursday about efforts by art museums to attract a new generation of benefactors incorrectly included the Detroit Institute of Arts among financially ailing museums that are under pressure to sell art from their collections to help fund their operations. While the Art Institute faced the threat of having part of its city-owned art collection sold, the money from the sale would have gone to the city in its bankruptcy proceedings, not to the museum itself. The article also referred incompletely to the source of pledges intended to avert such a sale. The pledges came from local and national foundations as well as from the museum itself, not just from local groups.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario