Patriots Point Development Authority Board Approves Three-Year Business Plan
The Patriots Point Development Authority (PPDA) Board has approved a Three-Year Business Plan to increase attendance and revenue over the next three years. This plan will allow the museum to take the programmatic and project actions necessary to restore its ships, develop new programs and exhibits, and to repay debt obligations.
“Our Three-Year Business Plan sets forth a goal to generate $11.7 million annually in revenue by FY 2016, up from current annual revenues of $9.7 million,” said Patriots Point Executive Director Mac Burdette. “This plan is critical to guiding decisions that will affect income production and ultimately our ability to achieve our missions well into the future.”
PPDA receives no annual appropriation from the state or federal government for operations. The agency’s current budget of $9.7 million is sufficient to fund day-to-day operations, selected capital improvements, 10% of deferred maintenance cost for vessel restoration and to fund the expansion of income-producing programs.
The plan proposes a $2 million increase in annual revenue by FY 2016 will be realized by:
- Increasing ticket sales to 260,000 tickets per year. This will be achieved as the result of major improvements to the museum experience over the next four years and through an aggressive marketing campaign.
- Increasing camping registrations to 24,000 per year through improvements to the overnight camping and day visitor products. This will be achieved with the addition of a National Flight Academy location and new cutting-edge programs in Science and Technology as well as a marketing campaign to new audiences.
- Increasing student enrollment in education to 20,000 per year. This will be achieved through the continued expansion of the museum’s statewide relevance through our Institute of History, Science and Technology – focusing on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) curriculum as well as literacy.
- Increasing number of event rentals to 350 per year. This will be achieved through marketing and execution of an aggressive sales program for event rentals, resulting in an average of one event rental contract per day annually. Currently, we have approximately 250 rentals each year.
- Increasing monetary gifts to support our museum to $500,000 per year. This will be achieved by initiating a comprehensive, long-range fundraising program that is dedicated to supporting Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum and its programs by the end of this fiscal year. It is imperative that the PPDA meet with the Patriots Point Foundation and the USS Yorktown (CV-10) Association to develop a short- and long-range capital campaign to support the goals and objectives of the museum.
- Increasing property lease revenue to $1.836 million annually through the development of a detailed, objective-oriented plan and strategy for leasing additional property by end of fiscal year. Must consider appropriate “out of the box” approaches necessary to achieve our financial objectives by FY 2016.