artículo astc gia (jul - ago 2011)

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Money Matters:Science Centers Thriving in Tough Times



Dimensions July • August 2011 27

ReducingExpenses WhileIncreasing ValueBy Gerardo Ibarra Aranda

Founded 16 years ago, Centro de Ciencias Explora in León,

Guanajuato, Mexico, is committed to operating in an effi-cient and financially viable manner. A main feature of our

organizational culture involves streamlining operations and

controlling expenses, while simultaneously maximizing the

visitor experience.

Two cousins enjoy an exhibit in Explora’s Water Hall. Photo courtesy Gerardo Ibarra Aranda.



28 July • August 2011 Dimensions

Sources of income

Nearly 80% o Mexican science centers and museums are pub-

lic institutions or part o a university, and depend on subsidiesor 53–100% o their income. Although Explora is a public sci-

ence center, we rely less upon subsidies and more upon earned

income than our colleagues. Our board o trustees, consisting

mainly o business executives, has inspired us to aim or high

sel-sufciency.

In 2010, Explora supported 50% o its 2010 operating costs

(USD 2,583,089) through earned income rom ticket sales, trav-

eling exhibition rentals, and consulting and other services—

making us the only public science center in Mexico to surpass

the national average o 47%. An additional 49% o our 2010 oper-

ating budget was supported by subsidies, mainly rom localauthorities, with less than 1% coming rom private donations.

Determining priorities

Because o our reliance upon earned income, we careully pri-

oritize our spending with the goals o creating the best possible

visitor experience and encouraging repeat visitation.

Explora has implemented several inexpensive inorma-

tion systems, developed specifically or us, to help determine

visitors’ most important needs. The ollowing systems are two

o our most successul:

1. The Voice o the Visitor system provides daily resultsrom user satisaction surveys. Visitors tell us about their gen-

eral experience, what they’ve learned rom their visit, how well

exhibits are unctioning, and their opinion o the quality o ser-

vice rom sta.

2. In the Out-o-Service Exhibits Follow-up system, a

computer code reports whether each o our exhibits is

unctioning well, operating below optimal levels, or not

unctioning. It also determines the type o error an exhibit

is experiencing.

The inormation rom both systems helps us decide i

resources should be used to train sta, repair or replace specificexhibits, change the activities in our halls or workshops, or even

create an entirely new hall. In this way, we can ensure that our

financial resources will be used where they will have the great-

est positive impact on visitors.

Another priority is serving school groups, which made

up 30% o our 174,000 visitors in 2010. Our Department o

Marketing oers personalized educational services that are

“tailored” or each school. Teachers may choose the topics they

A family learns about pregnancy in the Human Body Hall. Photo courtesy Gerardo Ibarra Aranda



Dimensions July • August 2011 29

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want to explore, and classes may par-

ticipate in simple, but eective, hands-on

workshops to reinorce learning. We alsooer English-language tours by request.

These options increase repeat visits by

public and private schools while ensur-

ing a dierent experience every time.

No less important is the renewal o

the contents o the halls; without this, our

tailored programs are doomed to ailure.

From 2000 to 2010, Explora has obtained

a total o USD 3,867,361 or improvement

and development o new projects, mostly

rom state (90%) or municipal (7%) gov-ernment sources.

By using the above-mentioned stra-

tegic actions, Explora managed to stay

afloat during a difcult period last year.

Because 2010 marked the 100th anniver-

sary o Mexico’s revolution and the 200th

anniversary o its independence, the

ederal and state governments invested

unds to take public school students to

historical sites, rather than to science

centers and museums.

Diversifying income sources

Each year, there is less money available

rom the government or renovation proj-

ects. We recognize the need to increase

and diversiy our income sources to

remain financially viable in the uture.

We will begin to enhance our earned

Gerardo Ibarra Aranda ([email protected]) is director of operations and projectdirector at Centro de Ciencias Explora, León, Guanajuato, Mexico.

A boy explores the Bernoulli exhibit in the Movement Hall. Photo courtesy Gerardo Ibarra Aranda

income by hosting technological coner-

ences. We’re also working to increase pri-

vate donations to meet our operationaland renovation needs. In addition, we’re

asking principal industries in the state

to partner with us to bring more people

in vulnerable situations to Explora, in

exchange or publicity in strategic areas

o the science center.

Finally, rom early 2011, Explora has

been ocusing on a new undraising

model, in which our service providers

(such as painters or web designers) ask

their regular clients to donate money to

us. We then use this money to pay theservice provider. The program has been

successul. From January to April 2011,

the center received the same amount in

donations as in all o 2010 (USD 25,000).

With the donors’ permission, we use any

surplus unds to subsidize ree muse-

um tickets or children in vulnerable

situations.

With our rugal practices, efciency in

generating earned income, and dedica-

tion to visitor service, Explora has devel-oped an eective business model that has

enabled us to withstand adverse economic

conditions and achieve excellent results. Q

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