In almost 91 years, our doors have never been closed for more than two days at a time. We have always been here — for your field trips, your weddings, your holidays and your family days out. Then everything changed.
For almost 16 weeks, we were unable to welcome guests through our doors. With almost two-thirds of our operating budget coming from earned revenue — admission tickets, memberships, signature and private events, food and retail purchases — the closure had a devastating impact. In addition to other cost-saving measures, The Henry Ford made the very difficult decision to place more than 80% of our staff (nearly 1,400 employees) on temporary, unpaid leave. Our venues were dark and quiet.
Although our doors have reopened, we are still operating at a significantly reduced capacity. While The Henry Ford has not had a deficit in decades, we are projecting a crippling shortfall of $10 million to $20 million in our 2020 operating budget. But we have been through difficult times before, persevered and emerged stronger, and with your support we will do so again.
The outpouring of support we have received has been amazing. You have been there for us at each step, through donations, membership renewals, messages of support and, when we were finally able to reopen, visiting our venues again. Thank you! Supporters have donated over $400,000 to the Reactivate The Henry Ford Fund. It is great to see that many of these donors were contributing to us for the first time. Every gift is being matched by a longtime supporter of The Henry Ford, so these donations will have double the impact.
We still have a long way to go, and we can only do it with your help. Please continue to support us however you can — visit, renew your membership, donate, share on social media — every action helps. We are thrilled to have you back at our venues and can't thank you enough for everything you do to Reactivate The Henry Ford!
21st century, 2020s, The Henry Ford Effect, philanthropy, COVID 19 impact
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