Common Ground: The Japanese American National Museum and the Culture of Collaborations

5. Community Building Through Fund-raising

COMMUNITY BUILDING THROUGH FUND-RAISING 65 5 5 Community Building Through Fund-raising Audrey Lee-Sung THIS CHAPTER DELINEATES THE JAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM’S (National Museum) philosophy toward community, collaboration, and resulting fund-raising strategies for completing a two-phase capital campaign. It describes how this campaign actively engaged the Japanese American community at all levels, from leadership to solicitors to donors. This fourteen-year effort, from 1985 to 1999, generated over $57 million—the most successful fund-raising effort by any Asian American organization in the United States. There are other pertinent reasons to focus on setup and implementation of the Phase I and Phase II campaigns, however. Traditionally, fund-raising within nonprofit institutions is characterized by approximately 10 percent of donors contributing 90 percent of the funds and may include a single, substantial private gift. The National Museum, however, has been supported by a broad base of individuals and families. Additionally, the National Museum has received contributions from Japanese citizens—the first time Japanese citizens contributed to a Japanese American effort of this scope. AUDREY LEE-SUNG 66 I also want to indicate how, in its totality, the success of this important fundraising campaign has enabled the National Museum to continue to attract a new audience of museum visitors, engage the community in building its collections, and redefine the word museum to encompass an institution that preserves, exhibits , and, most important, educates. ESTABLISHING FUND-RAISING GOALS Once the initial funding and building were secured, the Board of Trustees worked extensively with businesses, community leaders, and consultants to determine the long-range funding requirements of the National Museum.1 In 1987 the board established a two-phase $24.1 million goal to secure the opening of the Japanese American National Museum. This goal was based on a feasibility plan conducted by Netzel and Associates, a nationally reputable fund-raising firm. The study included interviews with key business and community leaders. The Phase I goals were to raise $10.2 million for the restoration of a historic site for the building and to cover costs of exhibitions, collections, and administration. The Phase II goal of $13.9 million was for construction of a Pavilion and establishment of an endowment fund to support annual programs and operations. Building support for the National Museum required creating a national profile for the institution. In 1988 the museum’s leadership, including national campaign cochairs Siegfred S. Kagawa (Honolulu, Hawai‘i) and Noby Yamakoshi (Chicago , Illinois), as well as Executive Director Irene Hirano, began traveling across the country recruiting new volunteer leadership and raising funds.2 To enhance targeted regional activities and to reach out beyond those regions , the National Museum initiated a national direct mail campaign. In the years leading up to the public opening of the Historic Building, a series of solicitations was mailed to thousands of households across the country inviting prospective supporters to become charter members of the Japanese American National Museum. The mass mailings served two purposes: to begin a wide-scale promotion of the yet-to-be-opened museum and to generate a base of national support. The early response rate to the National Museum’s direct mail membership campaign was phenomenal—over 4 percent, unheard of by industry standards (normal response rate to direct mail campaigns is about 0.5 percent). By the time the Historic Building opened to the public in 1992, nearly 13,000 charter members had signed on, affirming a strong commitment to and interest in the institution’s mission. PHASE I CAMPAIGN The Phase I strategy focused on raising funds primarily from Japanese Americans . The museum’s leadership felt the initial foundation of support had to come COMMUNITY BUILDING THROUGH FUND-RAISING 67 from Japanese Americans to demonstrate the community’s strong commitment and financial backing. Not unlike other contributors, prospective National Museum donors were interested in the organization’s accountability and effectiveness and wanted to know who was involved with the organization, particularly in the early stages of the campaign when the National Museum was establishing name recognition within the Japanese American community. A National Campaign Committee of corporate leaders and prominent Japanese Americans from across the country, committed to spearheading the National Museum’s fund-raising efforts, was formed.3 With the campaign leadership structure in place, staff and campaign leaders designed appropriate fund-raising strategies and engaged community members in building the institution. Japanese Americans, like other Asian...