Accreditation For Museums, Galleries, and Cultural Institutions
Preserving and showcasing. Museum accreditation is a process that evaluates a museum’s operations and standards based on established criteria, and it’s one way of achieving this goal. Accreditation validates a museum’s professionalism and commitment to excellence, which helps secure funding, attract donors, and boost visitor confidence. In this article, we will delve into the significance of museum accreditation and how it impacts the museum industry.
What is Museum Accreditation?
Museum accreditation is a process museums and similar institutions undergo to evaluate their regular practices and operations against a set of specific standards. You’ll be looked at for your leadership abilities, organizational diversity, financial stability, and anything related to the quality of your content. The most common way to get accredited as a museum is through the American Alliance of Museums.
Why is Accreditation Important For Museums?
Accreditation shows that your institution exceeds standards, proving that your museum takes its works seriously and that you’re committed to your target audience. The accreditation process isn’t a simple feat, so having it is an important milestone for your museum. It shows that you’ve put in the effort to create an awesome organization that does things correctly.
Benefits of Accreditation For Museum-Type Institutions
When you get accredited, the world notices. Some of the benefits you might see from accreditation include:
- Your visibility as an institution increases, leading to an increase in new memberships and community engagement.
- Accredited museums are more likely to receive more funding and financial support as well as partnership offers.
- People tend to trust the credibility of organizations with accreditation more often.
- Museums and other institutions with accreditation are more likely to gain additional access to professional development tools.
Demographic Information on Accredited Museums in the US
Accreditations are for a wide variety of institutions and can be broken down in a few different ways.
- Museum type. The most common types of museums that receive accreditation are:
-
- Art museums at 41%
- History museums at 22%
- Multi-disciplinary institutions at 10%
- Tied for 8% are historic sites and anthropology museums
- And specialized museums at 4%
There are many other types of museums and institutions that receive accreditation as well, such as aquariums and zoos.
- Budget size. Accreditation can happen at a variety of different budget sizes. The majority of accreditation goes to institutions in the $1 – 2.9mil budget at 30%, but even 8% of those in the $350k and under bracket still receive accreditation. Organizations of all budget types can be accredited. Don’t give up on accreditation just yet if you don’t have that much money right now.
- Governance type. A whopping 63% of all accredited museums are nonprofit organizations with 16% going to colleges, 7% going to state-run institutions, and the rest are a mix of regional, city, federal, and tribal. If you’re a nonprofit, you’re most likely to get accredited in this department.
How is Accreditation Rewarded?
The AAM’s accreditation process requires you to go through a list of eligibility requirements. There are also costs associated with getting accredited depending on your membership, ranging from $6900 to $2875. The approval process can seem confusing at first, but it’s well worth it in the end. If you’re interested in looking at the full list of accreditation eligibility requirements, you can view that here.
How Accreditation Will Help Your Acme Events
Once the new members start rolling in after you become accredited, Acme Ticketing can get to work for you, managing your ticket sales and memberships. With hardware that’s ready to use and robust event management tools, setup is made simple with Acme Ticketing. If you’re interested in learning more about how Acme Ticketing can streamline your membership services and museum events, book a demo today.