What's a Planetarian to do?

Jon Elvert <jelvert@lane.k12.or.us>

Most budget-minded planetarians, at one time or other, have been challenged to justify their budgets, programs, staffing and vision - in essence, the existence of their planetarium. Most often we're asked to do this when we're not meeting those projected revenues and attendance goals. For some of us, this justification might be part of an annual report. But when you find yourself throughout the year spending more time and creativity in defending why public or school interest is in decline, you may have noticed that managing this decline has become part of your job! In Eugene, I've tried a number of tactics to "justify" continued support of the planetarium, but I keep using two strategies that seem to be more successful than others:

know your audience (your public community and student/teacher needs) and how to reach them;
involve businesses or the private sector to support (directly or indirectly) the planetarium. Both these strategies really work well when they are tied to a special event or a non-conventional program.

Planetariums are unique environments and we do not ever need to sacrifice educational quality while seeking business promotion or marketing support for those programs. In Eugene, there are a lot of people both from the business and private sectors who want to invest in education, learning technologies and community cultural events, but these investors are also expecting their investments to be a success. By providing a successful program, a product, these investors will want to promote additional programs or events and see the planetarium succeed. In this sense they have become investors. Give prospective donors a purpose, a direction in which their contribution will make a difference; produce short term positive results but long term community benefits, and these partnerships will renew themselves.

I've been approaching local businesses in an effort to get their support for event programs and advertising. An event program can be a collaborative effort. For us, the program "Where in the Universe is Carmen Sandiego?" was a collaborative effort which produced immediate positive results. Its success was linked to name recognition, business sponsorship/marketing and an environment that only the planetarium can provide. By sharing these results of increased revenues and attendance to other prospective supporting businesses, the likelihood of getting their support is even greater. The key, however, to a non-conventional program like "Carmen" (or some other special programming) is to market it as an "event." Businesses and your local media tend to pay more attention to an event rather than just another show at the planetarium. The celestial events of comets and solar eclipses in recent years have produced record attendance. But why wait around for the next visible celestial phenomenon? Promote the planetarium by alternating the format of your programming to include an occasional special event. The results produce renewed interest and awareness in the planetarium.

This community support, or individual donors, need to buy into the planetarium's vision - its educational and cultural mission and make the planetarium a part of its community resources. The more the community is aware of the planetarium, the more individuals begin to become share-holders in the success of the planetarium. In my case, businesses have purchased major pieces of equipment (the glitz), programs and marketing to help further the educational need for a planetarium.

The lesson learned here is: creative, innovative methods of teaching; involving community support; knowing your customers and how they perceive the planetarium; promoting non-conventional programs with community support; having donors believe in your vision, your enthusiasm so that they become dedicated to your goals and needs. This formula just may help the planetarium become more integrated in the community and ultimately lets you envision its future rather than defending its decline. It's a good time for good things to happen.