For our Fall Quick Take poll, we asked what is the single most important measure of success for a museum. The largest proportion of respondents, 43%, feel Community Engagement is the most important measure, followed by Visitor Satisfaction, at 34%. Looking at the results by the role of the respondent, we found that 100% of Board Members and people in Marketing/PR and Development chose Community Engagement or Visitor Satisfaction. At least 50% of respondents in all the other roles – including Curators and Collections Managers – selected one of these top two measures or Visitor Learning (12% overall) as the most important. These results indicate a general consensus that engaging the community and museum visitors are at the foundation of a museum’s success.
Interestingly, not a single respondent chose "revenue" as the most important success measure. While obviously important, our respondents seem to be saying that if a museum is reaching and satisfying its community and its visitors, the revenues will naturally follow. Furthermore, the small number of respondents choosing Collection Quality (3%) as the most important success measure is evidence of the current focus on the people using museums rather than the objects contained within them.
Next Quick Take Poll: Accessibility
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