Upstart Co-Lab, the Association of Art Museum Directors, and the Black Trustee Alliance for Art Museums released a new report, Cultural Capital: The state of museums and their investing, “a first-of-its-kind survey of U.S. museums of art and design to establish their current level of impact investing activity and profile first-mover museums exploring the integration of values, mission, and investment.”
“Our findings demonstrate there is significant room for improvement with 13% of museums engaged in impact investing compared to 47% of colleges and universities and 51% of foundations… Barriers to action include persistent questions which are easily resolved: the ability to achieve targeted financial returns; the ability to measure impact; and the availability of quality impact investing products across asset classes.”
“Everyone committed to the future of America’s art museums—including the Boards, Leadership Teams, Staff, Donors, Artist, and Public that support them—can play a part in shifting museum endowments to impact investing. We hope the findings and recommendations in this report will help usher in a new era of ethical investing for the creative sector.”