Friends of Museums

Image from the Dwyer and McKay photograph collection of the Western Australian Museum History Department.

Associations of Friends are voluntary organisations which are formed specifically to support their adopted institution.  There is usually a membership fee for joining and these associations are often approved as charitable organisations and they can apply to obtain tax advantages.  While some museums may not constitute a formal friends group, volunteers may fulfil a similar role.

What do Friends Associations do?

Friends groups can do almost anything provided they bear in mind their main purpose of providing support and assistance to their museum.  They aim to bring people and museums closer together by raising the profile of the museum in the community. Their activities usually fall into one of four categories:

Generating income

• For special projects such as acquisitions or project work
• For the ongoing work of the museum such as exhibition development or publication of catalogues

Public relations

• Developing publicity campaigns
• Organising and running special events
• Liaising with local newspapers and radio
• Lobbying for external (often government) support for the museum
• Run public programs
• Attract cultural tourists, eg specialised tours involving travellers in understanding new cultural environments

Recruiting members

• Recruiting other members
• Organising visits to other museums, galleries etc
• Publishing newsletters
• Holding previews
• Holding special events for members of the friends group

Providing volunteers to assist with

• Cataloguing
• Researching
• Guiding
• Working in preventative conservation
• Collecting admission fees and running information desks
• Fulfilling specialist tasks, including finance and education tasks

Other functions for members

• Running special interest groups
• Developing partnerships within the museum
• Having unique access to museum and collections
• Organising a bequest program
• Maintaining affiliations with kindred bodies

References and further reading:

Museums Australia, Museum Methods, A Practical Guide for Managing Small Museums, Section 1.12 Friends of Museums

World Federation of Friends of Museums