MUSEUM TRUSTEE ASSOCIATION
  • Home
  • About us
    • Mission
    • Board of Directors
    • Current Members >
      • Institutional Members
      • Individual Members
    • Contact
  • Membership
    • Types >
      • Institutions
      • Patrons
      • Friends
    • Benefits
    • Member Spotlights >
      • Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
      • Mingei International Museum
      • Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
      • Heard Museum
      • Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens
  • News
  • Events
    • Philadelphia 2025
    • Tucson 2024 >
      • Forum
    • Atlanta 2024 >
      • Forum
  • Resources
    • MTA On-Demand
    • Templates for Trustees
    • Tips for Trustees
    • IDEA Resources & Information
    • Member Resource Library
  • Donate

Museum Boards And Donors Need To Examine Where Endowments Are Invested

6/24/2022

0 Comments

 
By: Laura Callanan & Maxwell Anderson. From Worth. Published 6/23/2022
Picture
It’s no secret that museums face increased scrutiny for both the company they keep and the promises they make.

In recent years, eye-catching demonstrations by artists have thrown major gifts from “tainted” sources into sharp relief, suggesting museums themselves should be mindful of how they make their money. In the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests, museums made strong public commitments to the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion—but two years later museum workers have questioned whether actions reflect words.

One way that museums can strengthen their reputations and follow through on their public declarations is by aligning the billions of dollars in their endowments with their values and missions.

Other investors are already doing this: One-third of assets under professional management in the US, approximately $17.1 trillion, is invested following sustainable and impact investing strategies. This includes endowed institutions like universities and foundations, which have already made commitments to hire BIPOC and women fund managers, and to steer clear of industries like fossil fuels and companies that don’t treat their workers and communities well. Museums, however, currently lag behind the rest of this pack.

A recent survey of independent museums of art and design in the US—published this week by Upstart Co-Lab, the Association of Art Museum Directors and the Black Trustee Alliance for Art Museums—sheds light on this disparity, finding that just 13 percent of museums are engaged in impact investing, compared to 47 percent of colleges and universities and 51 percent of foundations.

What’s more, the study revealed that issues often cited as barriers to museums getting involved with impact investing have already been solved: the capacity to measure impact, the availability of quality impact investing products across all asset classes and the ability to achieve market-rate financial returns. In fact, a Morningstar report found that sustainable funds outperformed peers in 2021.

As also evidenced by the survey results, investment committees and leadership teams tend to drive the conversation around impact investing at the museums leading their peers. But everyone committed to the future of America’s art museums can play a part in shifting museums’ endowments to impact investing.

Museum board members can gather the facts on the financial performance of impact investments and gain practical insights by speaking to trustees of universities, foundations and other cultural institutions that are already involved with impact investing. An appetite for impact investing knowledge can inform future appointments to the board and the investment committee, along with the selection of investment advisors, to ensure that individuals with relevant expertise hold key roles.

Continue Reading
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    ​The Museum Trustee Association views its mission of enhancing the effectiveness of museum trustees as educational and collaborative. As a group of past and current museum board members, we do not see ourselves as a policy-setting organization but rather as a source of information to equip Museum Trustees as they implement field-wide best practices in all of their governance affairs. The sharing of articles and opinion pieces on MTA social media and the News page of our website does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by MTA, its employees, or its board members. 

    Categories

    All
    And Inclusion
    Art And Law
    Art And Politics
    Art Market
    Board Governance
    Communication
    Data
    Deaccessioning
    DEAI
    Decolonize
    Democracy
    Design
    Diversity
    Endowment
    Equity
    Foundation
    Funding
    Government
    Grants
    MTA Member Museum
    Museum Insights
    Museum News
    Philanthropy
    Restitution
    Social Impact
    Social Justice
    Strategy
    Tax Exempt

    Archives

    October 2023
    October 2022
    June 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    November 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018

    RSS Feed

Join or Donate


Institutional Membership
Patron Membership
Friend Membership
and Donation Options

Sign up for MTA Newsletter


​
​Members of the MTA automatically receive
​the association's monthly emailed newsletter,
MTA E-News, and may also take advantage of
​access to archived issues!

​Contact our team


Museum Trustee Association
211 East Lombard Street, Suite 179
Baltimore, MD 21202-6102
Picture
​  [email protected]

Picture
​   (410) 402-0954

© Copyright 2023 Museum Trustee Association. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • About us
    • Mission
    • Board of Directors
    • Current Members >
      • Institutional Members
      • Individual Members
    • Contact
  • Membership
    • Types >
      • Institutions
      • Patrons
      • Friends
    • Benefits
    • Member Spotlights >
      • Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
      • Mingei International Museum
      • Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
      • Heard Museum
      • Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens
  • News
  • Events
    • Philadelphia 2025
    • Tucson 2024 >
      • Forum
    • Atlanta 2024 >
      • Forum
  • Resources
    • MTA On-Demand
    • Templates for Trustees
    • Tips for Trustees
    • IDEA Resources & Information
    • Member Resource Library
  • Donate