Item3a: AHCA presentation — original pdf

Backup

Austin History Center Association 2020-21: A year of challenges and achievements Presenter info Chad Williams ● Board Member, AHCA ● Past Chair, Library Commission ● Past Vice Chair, Charter Revision Committee ● Past Chair, Austin Community Technology and Telecommunications Commission The challenges Navigating & surviving COVID-19 The pandemic brought unique challenges for all non-profits. For AHCA, the inability to bring folks together threatened our ability to raise membership and revenue. Without the opportunity to hold live events, we knew it would be extremely difficult to stay top-of-mind for potential donors as well as our members. The achievements Membership has grown… like we’ve never seen it grow before ● AHCA membership has increased over 800% to approximately 650 members in the last 3 years ○ June 2018 - 80 ○ June 2019 - 331 ○ June 2020 - 534 ○ June 2021 - ~650 (Greater diversity in membership) The achievements (cont.) The Eberly Luncheon proves to be an online hit! ● Our principal annual fundraiser, conducted over Zoom, has grown by 64% even in the face of a pandemic. ● This year’s Eberly Luncheon had more commercial (private business) sponsorships than ever before. ● One of the most attended AHCA events ever. The achievements (cont.) Oral history recordings continue to be a primary focus ● Since June 2019, AHCA has conducted 29 more Oral Histories to AHC. You can hear and see them on our new 54 page website: http://www.austinhistory.net. ● Almost 100 oral histories of Austinites have been placed at AHC since 2016 for posterity. The achievements (cont.) AHCA Endowments are growing ● AHCA Endowments for operations expenses have seen growth surpassing seven figures for the first time in the Association’s 42-year history ○ 1983 Endowment: >100% growth ○ 2016 Emergency Fund: 57% growth ○ 2021 AHCA Operations Endowment The achievements (cont.) A Master Plan for preserving Austin’s history ● AHCA has raised $52,000 toward a Master Plan for combining the Faulk with AHC. ● Working with APL leadership, an AHCA Strategic Planning Committee has been formed, chaired by former Mayor Ron Mullen, to test the community for a Capital Campaign, in the $40-50M range, to reimagine a Archival, Research and Exhibition History Campus of 144,000 sq ft for all Austinites. For your consideration AHCA seeks to formalize its partnership with COA similar to what ACF, the Long Center, and Austin Parks Foundation currently have. AHCA has taken steps to produce an agreement between the Association and COA that recognizes the Association as a fiduciary partner in preserving Austin’s history. We are asking that the Library Commission draft a recommendation to Council recognizing the need for such an agreement.