Public Funding Platform

The Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts (CCAHA) provides preservation assistance to more than 300 small and medium-sized institutions in the Philadelphia area, and over 1,000 throughout Pennsylvania. The organization's behind-the-scenes work has now become more visible to the public, with the development of a fundraising program that allows CCAHA's constituents to generate donations online. CCAHA has created a platform, loosely based on successful models such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo, to be utilized in a new initiative: "Pennsylvania's 10 Most Endangered Artifacts." At the start of this program, local institutions were asked to nominate artifacts in need of preservation funds, and a panel of collections professionals will select 10 based on criteria outlined by CCAHA. These artifacts were promoted on CCAHA's website, where the public could vote and contribute funds for their favorites. CCAHA advertised "10 Most Endangered Artifacts" through a statewide promotional campaign, and the project's interactive nature allowed CCAHA to directly connect with the general public for the first time. CCAHA anticipates that the program will become an integral aspect of the organization's identity, and will repeat it in cycles of three or five years.[fn]Management grants, through the Philadelphia Cultural Management Initiative, were awarded from 2009 through 2013.[/fn]