Adrienne & Co. is starting a series featuring some of our favorite non-profits! We will be conducting interviews with a few organizations to gain some insight into the world of fundraising. Make sure to check back in as we feature non-profits and the events they host to spread awareness and raise money for their causes!
Last week, we sat down with Museo de las Americas’ PR and Marketing Coordinator, Victoria, to discuss the organization’s exhibit “Penitents: World End Rituals of Faith”.
Museo de las Americas is a museum that focuses on ancient and contemporary Latin American art. This nonprofit has been around for 25 years, and strives to educate the community about Latin culture through workshops, exhibitions, and tours. Each year, they host three event exhibitions: one featuring ancient art, another with photography, and one with fine art.
In June, the exhibition, “Penitents: World End Rituals of Faith” presenting the photography of Guy Veloso, opened to the public. Guy Veloso has been documenting those peoples who practice penance as part of their faith, for almost ten years now. These different spiritual groups are starting to disappear, and Veloso has been able to record their historical moments, preserving cultures that could otherwise be lost, through the power of photos.
At these exhibitions, Museo de las Americas really targets those who are interested in learning more about Latin culture, but this event appeals to people of all ages, regardless of their previous artistic knowledge. To build attendance, the organization used some traditional methods of marketing – social media, publications – and some guerilla marketing. For this particular event, they collected rosaries made from bread and jewels, and distributed them to visitors at the museum. Moreover, to get the board engaged in the marketing and planning of events, Museo de las Americas uses Save the Date cards, and encourages board members to invite their friends to the event as well. Another way they keep board members engaged, is by giving one of them the honor of introducing the event.
As a nonprofit, sometimes a major challenge at these large events is being understaffed or underfunded, making it difficult to manage a team. Museo de las Americas holds weekly meetings for their team to make sure everyone has a clear understanding of why the event is important for both the community and for themselves. One major thing they tell their team members, is that to promote the event to the community, they need to be involved in the community.
Finally, Victoria gave some advice to other PR and Marketing Coordinators seeking to put together a successful fundraising event: “Do your research; I went to the library and checked out a lot of books… the more you know, the more engaged you can be in the details of an event”.
Join Museo de las Americas at their upcoming event Friday, July 21st, ConnectArte: Lucha Libre from 5pm - 8pm at the museum!
Visit their website here, learn more about the current exhibit, or join in the upcoming event. Did you know you can also host an event at the Museum?
