With one of every three museums permanently closing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, now is the time to work together and preserve our history at the official National Packard Museum.
Museum revenues come from admission tickets, donations, hosting events and retail sales. Their annual budgets range from less than $50,000 to more than $10 million, but according to the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the vast majority — 87% — said they had only 12 months or less of financial operating reserves at the beginning of the Pandemic, with 56 percent having less than six months left to cover operations. "Museums support 726,000 direct and indirect jobs and contribute $50 billion each year to the economy. Of the museums able to reopen, over 40% plan to do so with reduced staff and will need to spend additional funds to ensure their ability to reopen safely," AAM said in a statement.
For example, a shuttered Oregon motor sports museum, World of Speed, announced its permanent closure earlier this year and said on its website that all assets and funds would be distributed to nonprofit museums and schools over the next several months, as required by Oregon law. "Perhaps the museum's greatest accomplishment was the opportunity it provided high school students to learn the skills needed to work in the automotive industry," the website said. "What a thrill it was to see these students grow and move onto fulfilling careers after graduation."
Our heritage and history resides where Packard began and now continues. Since the start of the pandemic, we increased staff volunteer hours at the National Packard Museum to save operating costs at the museum with plans to do more. As a next step, 20% of gross sales from of the Limited Edition 1899 Model-A timepiece collection will be donated to the museum. Every purchase assists in preserving our unique automotive history and the enduring automobile brand loved by many across the world. You can also donate directly by going to the Heritage link on our website. Join us in preserving the Packard legacy and history today.
