I am going to focus on the Trump presidency/administration,
since the policies he enacted the California government would push back. To
keep their values intact, the California sanctuary law was the first one that came
to my mind. California sanctuary law restricts when and how local law enforcement
can cooperate with ICE. The justice department sued California for three state
laws it had passed, because it made it impossible for federal immigration
officials to do their jobs and deport criminals. This lawsuit was the boldest
attack on California, Governor Brown and state attorney general Becerra vowed
to preserve progressive values California embodies. This is not the only issue California
government has opposed the Trump administration, like, marijuana, environment
regulations, and taxes to name a few. The Trump administration threatened
cities and states with sanctuary laws to protect undocumented immigrants by
pulling away federal grant money.
Draft for research project:
1) Introduction
& Background:
My Community
Partner for this class has played a huge role in this research project. I have
always liked museums ever since I was a child, and it is an interest me and my mother
share. I was glad to know that my CP was an organization I have an interesting
in working with. I am hoping that I can do a master’s degree in either museums
studies or public history in the near future. My CP this semester is with The Children’s
Museum of the Upstate (TCMU) in Greenville, South Carolina. They are a non-profit
museum with programs that target children from the ages of 5-12 years of old.
They offer a variety of programs for the children in their local community to
learn, especially now during Covid-19 pandemic that has forced many of these
children to indoor activities or have class from a computer.
The main issue
that The Children’s Museum of the Upstate have faced for the last couple of
years is a lack of funding from the local government, and that has been my
primary focus in my volunteer work for them. It has been a difficult process,
since I don’t know a lot about bonds and who to contact for information on the
subject. There has been a lot research put into this with some understanding of
how bonds work, but not enough were I could properly explain it to another
individual, as that deals with certain laws to make sure everything is
legitimate. I have also done research on how to propose a bill that could make
sure the TCMU gets funding in the future from either the local government or
the federal government. One of the first things that I was assigned to do was
find out why/how the Greenville County Museum of Art is getting constant
funding from taxpayers, and they got a bond issued in 2019, allowing them to renovate
the museum during the Covid-19 pandemic. I was not able to find a proper answer
for them, since I could not find a document explaining why the Greenville
County Museum of Art is the only museum in the area allowed this funding. This
has led me to ask why the local government not doing anything to help TCMU out?
It is the 6th largest museum in the U.S., generates tourism for the
county, and it benefits the community it lives in. Why/How local governments
have failed to supply funding for local museums in their area? Why is funding decreasing
for local museums? This is an issue that affects every local museum in the U.S.
as many museums have had to get creative in finding new ways of funding for
themselves, as they can’t rely on the local government to provide them with the
funding needed to survive and thrive. This issue has been around ever since the
2008 U.S. recession and it has only gotten worse. I am hoping that I can create
a survey that asks a group of local museums how they are doing financially, or
what strategies have they come up with that has brought them success in generating
funding for the museum. Hopefully, other local museums in the country can find
this information usual and put it to use so that they can focus on other parts
of their museums instead of constantly worrying about finding funding to keep
the doors open.
2) Review
of the Literature:
The first piece of
literature is from Shuhang He, Responding to Funding Cuts as a
Government-funded Museum. “This research study analyzed how US museums
survived the loss of government funding during the Great Recession in 2008. The
adaptions and strategies that were adopted by museums in response to the Great
Recession may offer indication for how museums might prepare for potential
government funding shortfalls” (He, pg.ii). “What were the impacts of the
reduction in government support to public museums? How did each of the museums
respond? How well did the methods and strategies employed by the public museums
work and what was the result?” (pg.2). Again, I am not the first person to ask
this question, but the areas that this person decided to focus on public museums
(government involvement). If public museums are worried about federal support
being cut, then local museums must have it worse, since they are not supported
by the local government. “‘Proactive’ organizations reacted aggressively toward
the economic downturn. This type of museum had planned for the worst-case
scenario. They examined the budget carefully to make strategic cuts, and they
communicated efficiently with their boards, staff, and important stakeholders”
(He,pg.12) . “The ‘Informed’ organizations were focused more on the current or
near-term matters. While their budget, expenses and income had been projected and
closely examined, and emergency plans had been carried out effectively, this
type of museums did not think about long-term impacts. They waited ‘until Spring
to see what happens to ticket sales, contributions, touring engagements, and
other revenue” (He, pg.12) “The ‘in denial’ organizations chose to operate as
usual. It was reported they had not felt the economic downturn yet and were hoping
to get the same amount of appropriations as the previous year. Some were too focused
on the day-to-day work and had not considered museum operations in the long
term (He, pg.12). It is interesting to read how the author separated the
museums into three separate categories, and it still applies today, especially
during the Covid-19 pandemic. It has slowed the world economy and the U.S.
economy, making funding harder for local museums. It makes many non-profit/local
museums feel, like they are on their own with no real relationship with the
local government.
This sentiment is
not something new, this issue or feeling of being on your own has been around
for a long time. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2008 recession it appears
that local governments and non-profit organizations did not work with one another
(local museums). “Others reported little or interaction between governments and
nonprofits. Still others described ineffective or even harmful relationships
that have detracted from their ability to serve the public” (Sauer, pg.33). “In
some places the descriptions varied widely, and it was difficult to realize that
government and non-profit organization leaders were speaking about the same
relationship” (Sauer, pg.33). This relationship has not improved over time and
has been the same for the last two decades, with non-profits feeling that they
are on their own in their local county. “People working in local governments
and nonprofit organizations often serve the same clients, address the same
community problems, and have the potential to support each other” (Sauer,
pg.33). “Although the perspectives of the two sectors are frequently different,
they are potentially complementary” (Sauer, pg.34). “One county manager
explained, ‘The county manager and board of commissioners don’t have enough
understanding about what a nonprofit is and how they work” (Sauer, pg.34). “Through
their budget allocations, they can direct public funds to particular community
needs. Through their authority to pass ordinances, they can regulate and shape
behavior in the community” (Sauer, pg.34). “In addition to having expertise and
insight gained through focusing on specific client groups or public issues, they
frequently can mobilize volunteers and private donation more effectively than
government can” (Sauer, pg.34). What these authors are trying to point out is the
lack of communication between these two groups in the same community/county,
and if they somehow managed to work with one another then the community that it
lives in would thrive and benefit from this relationship. They have their own strengths and weakness on
their own, but if the local government and nonprofit organizations decided to
work together and communicate with one another, then they could mitigate their individual
weakness and more resources available to both parties instead of competing with
one another for said resources. The main issue is getting these entities to
work with one another, in the article that I am reading it claims that there
are four obstacles to effective relationship between local governments and
nonprofits. “Different perceptions about the same situation; a lack of
understanding of each other’s work; the effects of the economic and cultural
base of a community on the style of communication, information sharing, and
decision making; and an imbalance of power in relationships” (Sauer, pg.35).
3) Method:
I am going to use
a google survey in order to this contact free and the museums that I am planning
on contacting for this paper are in South of the U.S., that way it is convenient
for them as they are museum directors to answer my survey questions about
funding. What is the most successful practice that have worked in obtaining local
funding? How much time do you spend trying to fundraise? Does the amount of time
you spent fundraising decrease creativity on your exhibits? Does it affect how you
interact with visitors/customers? Do you have a relationship with the local
government in their area? If not, have you tried to reach out to them? Do you
feel like you are own your own trying to raise funding for your museum? Do you
believe there is a lack of communication between your organization and the
local government? What resources have did you have to cut due to a lack of
funding? If you could get local government funding or help, how would that help
your museum? Do you and any another local museum in the same state share tips
and hints with one another?
My next step into
this survey is finding out who I should contact that could answer these questions
and get their contact information, and see if they could help me get other local
museums to participate in the survey.
Links to cite work
later: https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/bitstream/handle/1773/39757/He_washington_0250O_17393.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1
https://cplg.sog.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/16800/2019/04/Strengthening-Relationships.pdf
