More than 61 million people visited museums across the US, Canada and Mexico
in 2014, but the attractions are having to seek ever more diverse funding streams to stay in the green, according to a new survey released by the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD).

AAMD has identified the need to improve data collection, create better benchmarking tools and better inform outside audiences of the impact of art museums. As a result, the first annual survey of Art Museums by the Numbers 2014 identified several key points from the previous year.

Made up of 204 AAMD museums from across the region, one of the key statistics to come out of the survey was that while an average visitor spends less than US$8 (€6.75, £5.28) per museum visit, a museum's costs per visitor stands at an average of US$53.17 (€44.91, £35.09) – leaving a significant shortfall in funding.

According to the survey, these shortfalls were made up mainly through endowment income and then a diverse range of revenue streams including federal government (6 per cent), corporate contributions (4 per cent) and individual private contributions (10 per cent), among others.

Arts-focused activities accounted for the largest operating expense, at 33 per cent, while individual philanthropy remains the strongest source of support for museums in the US. The survey authors said this “reflects the tradition of private support for art museum as important civic institutions for communities large and small.”