We’ve all heard it: In this day and age, organizations need to find creative and novel ways to fundraise. Due to the ubiquity of social media, it might be easy to assume that the panacea of fundraising lies exclusively in the digital world: the ever-imposing algorithm. In his article, “Fundraising Trends 2024”, nonprofit consultant Kenneth R. Cerini points out that social media and AI are here to stay in the development world. However, some museums around the globe have been considering options that combine their collections (objects and artifacts) with digital tools to engage more donors and captivate new audiences.

Enter the objects!
As the name indicates, for an Adopt an Object program museums put select objects or artifacts up for “adoption” by donors. There are slight differences in the ways museums go about doing this, with some of these initiatives being called Adopt an Artifact instead, but the core is usually the same: by “adopting” something, the money that is donated to the museum will go directly to the upkeep of the chosen item or to cover an expense related specifically to the care of a collection. Again, this can take different forms, so there won’t be a uniform number of objects that are up for adoption, nor will donors receive the same benefits for their contributions–– like being credited publicly on the museum’s page or a certificate of adoption––, but, as Stefanie Mueller Terasaki highlights in her MA thesis “Adopt-an-Object: Reaching Donors Through Personalized Fundraising,” these programs can help “meet the needs of collection object’s conservation and artifact acquisition, and to create a connection between the public and museum objects.”

As such, Adopt an Object programs raise much needed funds and attract new audiences. Through both online and onsite engagement, these adoption programs can bring audiences closer to a museum by increasing interest in a museum’s mission and collections.

To better illustrate how these programs work, let’s examine a few examples.

The Design Museum – London, UK
The Design Museum first opened its doors in 1989 in a "converted banana warehouse" located in Shad Thames, but by the early 2000s it was already on the market looking for a bigger building to house its collections. In 2008, the decision was made: the museum would move to a 1960s building in Kensington High Street. However, the building needed some repairs and remodeling, so it wasn't until November 24, 2016, when the new Design Museum was finally opened.

In 2016, while the museum was working on its transition to its new location, they decided to launch an Adopt an Object program, to "raise over £200,000 towards the £1 million needed to cover the construction costs." Likewise, the museum's official statement explained that by doing this, the "Adopt an Object signals a new age of fundraising and audience engagement," given that the program sought to reach out to the museum's "substantial online audience by asking them to adopt an object for £5."

Even though it has been eight years since the program was launched, the museum's Adopt an Object website is still up and running, which can give users a clearer look at how the initiative worked. For example, the website features a map connecting the previous and new locations, the objects that were up for adoption, and general information about the program, such as the adopters of objects, what they got in return for their support, and historical snippets and pictures of each object. Additionally, through this website, adopters could see their object “move” to the new location in Kensington and were also invited to visit the museum and see the impact of their donation.

At the time, there were 12 objects for adoption, which ranged from designer shoes to a typewriter. Donors were able to select a specific item to adopt and then they were prompted to choose the number of miles they were going to help "move" the object, with the shortest distance being .5 miles for £5. Additionally, by entering their email address, donors were automatically included into a raffle where they could win a private tour of the new location, where the objects would be "on free permanent display for the first time in the museum's history."

As the museum's Head of Communications and External Affairs, Josephine Chanter was quoted saying: "A museum has to find the most interesting and compelling ways to engage with its audience to encourage them to become more involved with their public programmes and activities." Adopt an Object programs can indeed be a compelling way to engage with donors because they allow for audiences and online communities to take a closer look at a museum's collections and provide a great way for audiences to interact, connect, and be more involved with museums, even if they are not geographically close.

South Australian Museum (SAM) – South Australia, Australia

Like the Design Museum, the SAM launched an Adopt an Object program in 2023, which is still available to this day. In the official website for the program, the SAM states that this initiative "is a new and exciting way to help preserve the Museum's collections for future generations," while also highlighting that as donors adopt their objects for a year, they will "be adding their name" and "contributing" to the object's "future." That said though, aside from offering " 24 weird and wonderful treasures to choose from, each with its fascinating story," the SAM also gives their users another option: donating directly to specific care activities, such as an hour of specialist conservation of an object, the creation of online content, preparing an object for display, or helping researchers know more about their collections. All while encouraging audiences to "please consider making a general donation to support the conservation and preservation of our irreplaceable collections."

SAM posted announcements about their new adoption program on their social media profiles that prompted immediate engagement with online users, with people asking questions about the items that were up for adoption, complimenting the idea, sharing what they adopted, and tagging other users in the comments. The museum seems to have been successful in generating engagement and interaction between the museum's collections and its community.

Care for an object? Or two?
Programs like Adopt an Object are great examples of how to engage with new audiences and garner donations by making patrons feel more involved and attuned to a museum’s mission and goals. Digital tools can be a great resource for museums to reach out to new people and keep their communities posted about upcoming events, projects, or programming. However, they can also help make the invisible visible. Through Adopt an Object websites, donors can learn about different items that they might be interested in adopting, but they also serve as a window into a museum’s collections, their daily work, their responsibilities, and their values. They can also help donors feel closer to the museum and understand more clearly why their contribution and participation are essential.

Written by Emma Inés Tienda de la Vega, a graduate student in the Material Culture and Public Humanities program at Virginia Tech.