Fundraising - MuseumOfTV.org

Fundraising
Fundraising Strategy
The Museum of Television will begin an extensive fundraising campaign to!provide for our initial start-up
costs and our first 6 months of operations.!Our current work includes the development of prospect lists
of persons who! may be interested in providing a financial donation,! the solicitation of support from
corporations and the local business community, the writing of grant proposals soliciting funds from
Arizona foundations, and the hiring of a professional fundraising consultant. During the first year we
anticipate that 30%-50% of the museum’s annual revenue! will! be generated by a combination of
membership, admissions, programming, retail sales, special events and related activities.!The remainder of
our funding will be generated by:
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The writing of grant proposals to secure grants from!Arizona foundations;
The solicitation of members of the Board of Directors and other individuals for financial
contributions;
The solicitation of corporations and small businesses for financial support;
The pursuit of large scale in-kind donations from major retailers that!can provide the materials
and supplies we will need. They may include: Apple Computers, Microsoft, Samsung, Sony and
others;
A proposition that will provide exclusive sponsorship in an industry, sector, or category; provide
an oppor tunity to brand the chosen
sponsorship gallery or area with suitable
company! materials; provide appropriate
hospitality events; positive PR in selected
printed materials; special programming, and
pride in their participation in a project that
is!educational, charitable, and enjoyable; and
An annual large scale! benefit featuring classic
stars, an auction, and other TV-centric fun;
Special events from TV-centric screenings and
concerts to appraisal clinics; and
A!variety of small-scale fundraising activities.
The Museum of Television has taken the necessary
steps to prepare for an extensive fundraising campaign
and we are currently! devoting our energies to this
end. Our current work includes:
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The development of primary and secondary prospect lists of persons who!may be interested in
providing a financial donation. We plan to follow up with personal phone calls, as well as a direct
mail campaign as soon!as we establish a feasible location;
The solicitation of support from corporations and the local business community. We are
pursuing in-kind donations of money, time, and!supplies from!corporations and local!businesses;
The writing of grant proposals soliciting funds from Arizona foundations;
The hiring of a professional Phoenix-based fundraising consultant! to direct us toward
foundations that will fund the seed money!to cover start-up costs, and to help develop a longrange fundraising plan and self-sufficiency.
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Sponsorship
Television rose to become the most powerful advertising-driven medium in American history, and we
believe our Museum of Television will attract generous sponsorships from the Hollywood studios,
production companies, and networks who create the content; the manufacturers of TVs, DVRs, and
related technology; cable, signal, and bandwidth providers; the companies who built their brands on TV;
and just about anyone else who grew up watching and loving television.
Like many museums, we will attract and honor significant benefactors and commemorate their
generosity through naming opportunities. At the upper end of the spectrum, we will seek out organic
charitable foundations and media companies to sponsor wings, galleries, and long-term exhibits, such as:
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The “Up Late” Gallery –The John W. Carson Foundation
“The Bunker: The World According to Archie” Gallery – The William S. Paley Foundation, Inc.
Lobby Exhibit Hall – US Airways Corp. Giving
“The Time Tunnel” Entry –TV Land & MTV
The 1950s Gallery – ABC & The Walt Disney
Co.
The 1960s Gallery – CBS Corporation
The 1970s Gallery – NBC Universal
The 1980s Gallery – Viacom International
The 1990s Gallery – Fox Broadcasting Co.
The 2000s Gallery – HBO
Local businesses
For genre and era sub-sections within our main
exhibition and for interactivity, educational programs,
and special events, special naming recognition will be
offered to prominent Arizona businesses, such as:
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“The Wild West” genre exhibit – Wells Fargo & Co.
“Space, The Final Frontier” genre exhibit – Raytheon Systems
“Is there a Doctor in the House?” genre exhibit – Banner Health
“Carringtons, Colbys & The Ewings” genre exhibit – J.P. Morgan Chase
“It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's Blue Screen” interactive – Southwest Airlines
“Food for Thought” interactive – Bashas’ Supermarkets
“Truth, Justice & the American Way” program – The Arizona Republic
“Evolution of the Genres” program – KAET/Arizona PBS
“How’d you get into my Bedroom” technology seminar – DIRECTV
“Destination: Television” vocational training series – AT&T
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Early TV advertisers
We will also approach great companies whose brands are interwoven into the patchwork of American
consumerism and culture. Since the Golden Age of television, manufacturers have used broadcasting to
advertise their brands, a few examples of which would include: The Buick-Berle Show (1948-1956); The
Chevrolet Tele-Theater (1948-1950); The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950-1955); DuPont Cavalcade Theater
(1955-1957); Ford Television Theater (1952-1957); General Electric Theater (1953-1962); Goodyear Television
Playhouse (1951-1957); Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951-present); Heinz Studio 57 (1954-1956); Kraft Television
Theater (1949-1958); Motorola TV Hour
(1953-1954); Pepsi-Cola Playhouse (1953-1955);
and the US Steel Hour (1953-1955). Incredibly, all
of these companies (with their names embedded
into the show titles) are still around today to
take a rightful bow as believers in the new
medium, as well as to create good will for their
active brands.
There are more than fifty other programs with a
product closely associated to their content (such
as Campbell’s Soup and Lassie, Kodak and The
Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, or Nabisco and
The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin), and this gives us a
large pool of potential advertisers to approach
for ongoing museum sponsorship.
Timmy Martin Plaid Shirt - “Lassie”
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The California Raisin Band - TV commercial campaign
Beloved brands that we curate
Other companies (whose original spokesmen are presently archived within The Comisar Collection) will
also be approached for sponsorship or non-cash donations and could include: Alka-Seltzer (Speedy);
Bob’s Big Boy (Big Boy); Budweiser (Budweiser Frogs); the California Raisin Board (California Raisins);
Campbell Soup Company (Campbell Soup Kids); Coca-Cola (Coke Polar Bears); Colgate-Palmolive
(Madge the Manicurist); Dominos Pizza (Noid); Duracell
(Duracell Dancers); Energizer (Energizer Bunny); Ernest &
Julio Gallo (Bartles & Jaymes); General Mills (Boo Berry,
Count Chocula & Franken Berry); Green Giant (Green
Giant); Hamburger Helper (Helping Hand); Jack in The Box
(Jack); Kellogg’s (Snap, Crackle & Pop; Toucan Sam &
others); Maytag (Maytag Repair Man); McDonald’s (Ronald
McDonald & Mac Tonight); Unilever (Mrs. Butterworth);
Nine Lives Pet Foods (Morris the Cat); Orkin (Orkin
robot); Oscar Meyer (Little Oscar); Pepsi (Pepsi Man);
Pillsbury (Pillsbury Doughboy); Planters Peanuts (Mr.
Peanut); Procter & Gamble (Josephine the Plumber);
Quaker Oats (Cap’n Crunch & others); Snuggle Fabric
Softener (Snuggle Bear); StarKist (Charlie Tuna); Toys ‘R’ Us
(Geoffrey the Giraffe); and Union 76 (Murph).
Snuggle Bear Puppet - Commercials
Just as the artifacts will be attractors for visitors, we believe
having the unique ability to display the original puppets, costumes,
and props from pioneering and sustaining commercial campaigns will similarly attract companies to
support and otherwise take part in exhibits, conversations, and celebrations of their own iconography.
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Hamburger Helper Helping Hand Puppet (top center), Mrs. Butterworth Puppet
(middle left), Ronald McDonald Costume (middle right), and Morris Cat
Bowl (bottom left) from various national commercial campaigns
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Consumer electronic sponsor
By working with a consumer electronic sponsor that could provide the museum galleries with screens,
interactive stations, and playback equipment, we can expose visitors to the newest technology in smart
TVs, smart tablets, and even smart phones. By putting these potentially intimidating products into their
hands, we will help those who are less tech-savvy to keep TV streaming into their lives. For some
demographics the future of taking part in social media sites will involve smart hubs that provide Internet
access through their living room televisions; and our staff social media expert will teach visitors how to
access YouTube, Facebook and Twitter (perhaps resulting in their likes and tweets about their favorite TV
shows or our vibrant venue). While this is good for guests it is also great for the technology sponsor for
it allows them to affiliate with our powerful showcase for the past, present, and future of television; to
stay connected with dedicated TV fans that are very brand-conscious consumers; and provides valuable
data mining opportunities.
Non-cash gifts
We will also seek out non-cash gifts from leading manufacturers of computers, tablets, touch screens,
monitors, and digital media devices, including: Apple Computer, Dell, HP, LG, Microsoft, Mitsubishi,
Motorola, Panasonic, Philips, Roku, RCA, Samsung, Sharp, Sling Media, Sony, TiVo, Toshiba, and Western
Digital; manufacturers of Jumbo Tron-like video displays including: Akami, Barco, D3, Daktronics,
Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Philips, and Toshiba; audio tour production and playback companies including:
Acousticguide, Heddier, iPhone, iPod, Tour-Mate, and Sennheiser; licensors of TV clips, theme songs, and
other music including: Archive of American Television, ASCAP, BMI, Carson Productions, and NMPA;
hoteliers including: Four Seasons, Hyatt, Marriot, Sheraton, and Wyndham; airlines including: US Airways
and Southwest Airlines; as well as others.
Cultivating Major Gift Donors
We are presently evaluating how such naming opportunities, sponsorship propositions, and corporate
support could be further measured, though it
seems reasonable to assume that in the aggregate
they will be a meaningful source of start-up
revenue and annual giving.
To further the critical tasks of identifying,
cultivating, and securing major gift donors (as well
as to valuate what their initial and annual
contributions might be), we will contract for the
professional services of Phoenix Philanthropy
Group that specializes in helping non-profit
institutional clients raise capital, programmatic, and
endowment funds. In our early work meeting with
the principals of such firms, it was expressed to us
by them and others that “a TV museum is sexy and
private philanthropists will be attracted to the
scope and reach of television and the immersive
learning perspective. It is also a legacy project so
they will seek out early emotional ownership.”
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Acknowledging Donors
In a style that is true to television, each major gift donor will be acknowledged in our lobby with his or her
name fading up on a large central monitor in the style of TV “credits,” and each will also be given a “title”
commensurate with their generosity. For example, our top 2 donors will be bestowed the most coveted title
of “Executive Producer,” and their names and information will individually fade up and hold for 15 seconds
before dissolving to the next in their category; followed by up to 4 donors listed as “Producer” that will hold
for 10 seconds each. This screen will play continuously during hours of operation and will also be visible
through our lobby window after closing.
Two smaller screens below the central monitor will feature the names and donations of others, who also
gave generously, and they will be afforded titles associated with acting credits such as “Starring,” “CoStarring,” and “Featuring”; and these screens will also fade up and hold for appropriate intervals. Below these
screens, three yet smaller ones will “scroll” the names of “Best Supporting Roles” and a dedicated sound
system in this area will play a loop of familiar and appropriate theme songs from Cheers (featuring the lyrics
“Sometimes you want to go, where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came. You
wanna be where you can see, our troubles are all the same, you wanna go where everybody knows your
name…”); The Golden Girls (“Thank you for being a friend. Traveled down the road and back again. Your heart
is true you’re a pal and a confidant…”); and Friends (“I’ll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour. I’ll be
there for you, like I’ve been there before. I’ll be there for you, cause you’re there for me too…”).
In our courtyard, a wall of glass bricks each featuring the etched outline of a TV screen and the name of an
individual, a family or organization will celebrate other donors, and smaller bricks set into the ground will
feature donors, who literally helped pave our way.
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