Indiana Historical Society

Five years after kicking off the Campaign for the Indiana Experience at its annual Founders Day Dinner, the Indiana Historical Society (IHS) shared with guests at the 2012 event that it has surpassed its campaign goal by more than $300,000, raising $19.5 million in support of the Indiana Experience. The dinner took place on Monday at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center, home of the IHS and the Indiana Experience, located at 450 W. Ohio St. in downtown Indianapolis.

The five-year Campaign for the Indiana Experience began in December of 2007 and has steadily progressed since that time, receiving significant support from individuals, corporations, and foundations. Among the commitments already made was the lead gift of $8 million from Eugene and Marilyn Glick—the largest single cash gift in the IHS’s 182-year history. In honor of this gift, the IHS’s headquarters building was renamed the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center.

The Indiana Experience uses cutting edge technology and the very latest innovations in interactive guest practices to share IHS’s historic photographs and documents and fulfill its mission to be Indiana’s Storyteller™, connecting people to the past. In addition to receiving the American Association for State and Local History’s Award of Merit 2011 and the Association of Midwest Museum’s Best Practices Award in 2010, dozens of historical organizations have visited from both the U.S. and abroad specifically to observe IHS’s visitor experience.

With the economic downturn that began in 2008, IHS officials made the decision to re-evaluate the exact amount of the campaign goal. By placing priority on the spaces and resources needed to support the new visitor experiences, IHS was able to trim approximately $4.6 million in construction costs from the initial $23.8 million budget.

Plans covered by the campaign included the development and implementation of new technology and programs that appeal to visitors and extend their length of visit, additional staffing to facilitate the new experience, physical modifications to the building to maximize programming space and improve visitor circulation, and an endowment to continually support the programming.

Since its March 2010 opening, attendance to the Indiana Experience has grown dramatically. As 2012 comes to a close, IHS officials are anticipating approximately 50,000 in attendance for the Indiana Experience and related on-site programming this year—which will be a 64-percent increase from the 30,394 it welcomed in 2010. Other parts of IHS’s operations have been positively affected as well, with a 13.5-percent increase to the William Henry Smith Memorial Library, a 13-percent increase in Basile History Market revenue and a 27-percent sales increase in the Stardust Terrace Café (operated by Hoaglin To Go).

The Indiana Experience has also grown IHS by an additional 40 part-time personnel, including museum theater program staff members who bring the human element of recreated historic photographs to life in the You Are There component.

Beyond exceeding the overall financial goal, IHS President and CEO John A. Herbst and his fundraising team also succeeded in using the Campaign for the Indiana Experience to broaden and deepen IHS’s donor base—collecting more than 400 first-time donations from individuals, corporations and foundations previously uninvolved with the organization.

By finding operating efficiencies, IHS can now roll the Indiana Experience into its annual operating budget. IHS will continue to seek funding for ongoing support of the Indiana Experience—particularly for research and development, new technology and the museum theater program. IHS is also still in the process of raising matching funds for a four-year, $425,000 Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

For information on IHS or the Indiana Experience, call (317) 232-1882 or visit www.indianahistory.org.