The path to board service for young museum patrons
For many museums, young patron programs might be the entry point to future major giving and board service. To get a better sense of what kinds of programs are out there, I collected data from museums who belong to the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) as a representative sample of art museums across both geography and operating budget. My review included published information from AAMD’s 211 member art museums located in the United States and Puerto Rico. Of these institutions, 53 have some form of young patron program listed on their website, defined here as special pricing or programming restricted to a subset of a museum’s audience, typically with an age range somewhere between 21 and 49 years old. These young patron programs range from free or discounted admission to friends groups with up to $10,000 in annual dues. I was most interested in learning more about the institutions that have special programming and explicit leadership opportunities, because while discounted admission provides greater accessibility, it does not alone provide opportunities for deep engagement and demonstration of leadership skills.
On the surface, many young donor groups appear to be focused just on cocktail parties, but the educational components are not to be overlooked. Through behind-the-scenes tours and private receptions, museums are making young donors more savvy collectors with the hope that they will amass a collection in line with the curatorial goals of the board and curators, and which perhaps can one day be gifted or loaned to that institution. Learning about art world trends, gaining tips on collecting, and networking are additional benefits of joining member groups, but they can come at a hefty price.
I dug deeper on the young patron programs that focus on next generation branding and leadership development, those with acquisitions responsibilities, and those with expanded age ranges to look at the different approaches that museums are taking with younger donors. How a museum markets its young patron group is a good indicator of the result it hopes to get from these visitors and donors.
Use of language focused on leadership, the community, and the future to describe some young patron programs suggests that some museums are looking beyond the social and entertainment value of their programming to establish a deeper connection and long-term relationship. Here are some museums that stood out for their focus on developing future philanthropic and community leaders:
One East Society at the Nova Southeastern University Art Museum in Fort Lauderdale – Inspires the future generation of arts patrons by providing opportunities to connect with artists, professionals, and creatives in South Florida.
Avant Garde at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego – Members of Avant Garde provide financial support for the museum and cultivate future leadership by developing and nurturing the next generation of art collectors and community leaders.
Barnstormers at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont – The Barnstormers represent a new generation of Membership and leadership at Shelburne Museum. This lively group of donors is committed to cultivating awareness and enthusiasm for Shelburne Museum, providing new and relevant ways to engage with the local creative community and nurturing philanthropy and leadership within the Shelburne Museum family.
Contemporaries Council at the Portland Museum of Art (PMA) – Contemporaries Council members choose to live in and around Portland because of the city’s potential as an incubator for creative and entrepreneurial endeavors, and for the close-knit community that enables connections and inspires support. Together with the PMA, the Contemporaries Council actively explores ways to enhance the local creative economy, with meetups beyond the PMA and out in the community, lifting the tide for all. Through their philanthropic support of the PMA, the Council reduces barriers and degrees of separation within Maine’s entire cultural community and brings people together.
Some groups also give young patrons responsibility for art acquisitions, helping to prepare them for the financial and curatorial decisions they will be making as future board members. At the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, the top giving tier of the Young Friends of the Norton includes an invitation to join the Young Friends Acquisition Council (I’m a member of this group!). Similarly, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s Young Collectors Council has an Acquisitions Committee for contemporary art as its top giving tier.
One note on branding of young patron programs: according to the data, there is a bias, whether conscious or unconscious, in many young patron groups toward contemporary art. While this might be done to appeal to the aesthetic interests of younger visitors, some young donors might see this as not very inclusive and welcoming to those with other interests.
The last thing I discovered in my research of young patron programs is that some of these groups are currently straddling three generations: older Gen Z, Millennials, and younger Gen X. This raises the question of whether or not the needs of each group can be met with uniform programming. Additionally, some groups have giving tiers aligned with different age ranges, allowing young donors to progress through higher levels of giving, engagement, and leadership development. The Frick Collection in New York, for example, has a higher giving requirement for patrons who are at the older end of the Young Fellows age spectrum, but that also comes with more opportunities to engage with the institution and with others from the same micro-generation. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, likewise, has structured its Museum Council young patron program with multiple age ranges, from 21 to 26, 21 to 45, and 21 to 49 to allow decades of growth at the institution.
So if you don’t have a young patron program, check out what your colleagues are doing in this space. And if you’re looking for a program to join, consider something across the country, because the pandemic has made museums around the world as accessible as a click away.
