Facing up to the fundraising challenge
AJN STAFF
OUTGOING Jewish Museum of Australia (JMA) director Dr Helen Light AM has identified fundraising as the biggest challenge facing her successor and called for the Jewish community to dig deep.
After 27 years at the museum, Dr Light said running the JMA was a “struggle every year” because of a lack of funding.
“Our community is generous but it costs a lot to run a museum. We need more money to run,” Dr Light told The AJN.
“Money’s a challenge and everything unfortunately depends on money because we are a small not-for-profit. Museums don’t make money, they use money.”
The Victorian Museums Australia committee member said one of the biggest problems facing the JMA is the community’s perception of the cultural centre as a luxury and not a necessity.
Dr Light said the museum’s operating costs, around $1.4 million annually, was made up of contributions from the Victorian Government (seven per cent of the museum’s overall budget), corporate sponsorship, philanthropy, benefactors and community support.
“We also earn money. We have an events committee that raises well over $100,000 a year, we have the shop … we do everything. We beg, borrow, steal,” she said.
comments