Imagine a museum or gallery that doesn't just rely on ticket sales but works like a community club where members help run the place. This project creates a guidebook for these institutions to turn their loyal visitors and local partners into active financial supporters. It's like moving from a one-way shop to a shared membership model that keeps the lights on during tough times.
Cultural institutions suffer from financial vulnerability and a reliance on unstable funding, despite having high community value and engagement.
["A Playbook containing adaptable guidelines and recipes for participatory business models.", "An online Knowledge Base and Platform for sharing research and monitoring impact.", "The RECHARGE Academy for capacity building and training."]
If you are a private museum operator dealing with unpredictable ticket revenue — this project developed a Playbook that provides recipes for participatory business models to create steady financial value from your community.
If you are a corporate entity dealing with low-impact charity donations — this project developed Resource Pooling and Platform models that turn corporate relationships into sustainable financial partnerships for cultural sites.
If you are a city manager dealing with underfunded local heritage sites — this project developed an Academy and online platform to build capacity and implement participatory ownership models.
Based on available project data, no specific pricing or implementation costs are mentioned; however, the project provides a free Playbook and online Knowledge Base for sector uptake.
The project tested its methods across 9 Living Labs in 6 countries, suggesting the models are adaptable to various local environments and scales.
Based on available project data, the results are shared via an online Knowledge Base and Academy to support sector-wide uptake, implying an open-access approach.
The data indicates that as the participatory processes matured within the Living Labs, the institutions achieved stronger financial outcomes.
Users can follow the 'Prepare, Enact, Reflect' process detailed in the RECHARGE Framework and the accompanying Playbook.
The consortium is highly diverse, consisting of 10 partners across 6 countries. While it is heavily weighted toward non-profit and academic entities (6 'Other', 2 Universities, 1 Research organization), it includes 3 SMEs and 1 industry partner, ensuring that the academic research is grounded in practical, small-business reality.
Contact Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam for access to the Playbook and Academy.
Contact us to implement these participatory revenue models in your cultural organization.
