Visit to the Henry Ford Museum

[alexiskai]

Originally Posted by BRENT in 10-uh-C

What I have learned over the years is the HF is a much larger entity than just a museum. What I have been told is they have like 1½ million guests per year, and while an admission fee of $25-$30 multiplied by that amount would be astronomical, I have been told their operating money is actually generated more from philanthropy and estate donations. It would not surprise me one bit if their annual budget is not $50M, -or even more. Skipping a meal at the restaurants there likely takes less than a dollar or so commission away from the HF. Not sure if that will be noticed by the few of us Fordbarners that will actually visit the campus during lunch time.

You can look up their annual report here. Their 2019 operating budget was $73.5m, of which $16m revenue was derived from restaurants. AFAIK the HF does operate the restaurants itself, so it's not just a lease or commission they're getting from the purchases.