ANNA MARIA – The Anna Maria Island Historical Society (AMIHS), 402 Pine Ave., draws more than 10,000 visitors a year to its volunteer-managed museum and is making plans to inform and entertain future visitors.
The museum is housed in a building that dates back 100 years to the 1920s. The building has served many purposes in its long life, including an ice house, turtle hatchery and more, and museum directors want to assure it has a bright future for many years to come showcasing the rich history of AMI.
On Feb. 13, they asked the Manatee County Tourist Development Council (TDC) for financial assistance.
According to the TDC, the historical society and its board of directors have explored a partnership with Carter Global, a fundraising agency that helps organizations maximize their philanthropic potential. The goal is to build a six-month plan for AMIHS to generate income that will help support the museum through revenues generated by memberships, admission fees and other strategic planning, rather than just donations from visitors and the community.
The plan presented to AMIHS by Carter Global is a capacity-building project with a total cost of $72,000. Since the AMIHS operates on an annual budget of $40,000, they are not even close to the $72,000 goal but calculated they could delegate $10,000 to the effort. They asked the TDC for an additional $62,000 to complete the project.
As the TDC discussed the request, board member Ed Chiles proposed an amendment to the request in which the TDC would raise the amount to $100,000, with the additional funding going to assist with funding the Historical Society’s first full-time paid employee as the plan moves forward.
AMIHS Board President Elizabeth Hager and Vice President Barbara Murphy addressed the TDC to help clarify the request. TDC Chairman James Satcher asked both Hager and Murphy what the additional $28,000 would fund if they were given the money.
“We are prepared to do this work with a consultant, and we’re ready to go,” Hager said. “We feel it would be wonderful if you voted for Mr. Chiles’s amendment so we could proceed at pace without waiting for agendas and all that kind of thing.”
A unanimous vote from the TDC granted the amended request of $100,000 to the Historical Society. The request will now go to the Manatee County Commission, which has the final say.
