Working with your communityTe mahi tahi me tō hapori

Museums thrive on support from diverse groups, each requiring different types and levels of engagement. Groups you engage with, and seek to enable, may include:

• friends (members)

• volunteers

• educators and students

• local authorities

• local and other iwi, and hapū

• donors: individual and corporate sponsors

• local residents and community groups

• strategic partners in other local museum and tourism operations.

Engaging your audience

Talk: Engaging museum audiences

Nina Simon from Museum 2.0 speaks at Te Papa about participatory museums as places where visitors can create, share, and connect with each other around content. Use the slides and audio below together.

SlideShare: Engaging museum audiences

Talk: The Met’s Multicultural Audience Development Initiative

Donna Williams, Chief Audience Development Officer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art explores how museums can be welcoming places for communities, and discusses how the Met encourages its community to ‘become part of the museum fibre’.

Building support in your community

Working with local government

Local government can have a big impact on the success of museums and galleries. It’s therefore important to have a good understanding of how councils operate.

This guide, from National Services Te Paerangi, outlines local government powers, operations, and decision-making relevant to museums, galleries, and other cultural organisations. It suggests ways these organisations can build and strengthen relationships with their local council.

Developing a public programme

Good public programmes are a great way to build community support, increase visitation, build up interest in your collections, and educate your visitors.

Use this checklist and template from National Services Te Paerangi to help you plan public programmes.