Impact of COVID-19 on Oklahoma Historical Society

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Oklahoma Historical Society faced a significant impact due to COVID-19, with a 67% loss in earned revenue and a decline in membership, donations, and visitor engagement. The closure of museums and cancellation of events led to financial challenges, affecting the overall sustainability of the organization.

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Oklahoma Historical Society COVID Impact and Response

Impact of COVID on Earned Revenue Loss of earned revenue: Agency wide earned revenue loss of 67 percent from FY19 History Center total visitation and program impact down by 75 percent History Center event space rental revenue down by 59 percent from FY19 Gift store sales across OHS museums and sites down by 41 percent from FY19 A significant number of educational programs and events, including the annual fundraising gala, were canceled resulting in a decrease in donations and memberships: OHS membership fell by 36 percent from FY20 to FY21 OHS unrestricted giving fell by 33 percent from FY20 to FY21

OHS Membership 12,000 FY19 FY20 FY21 10,004 9,595 10,000 8,000 6,555 6,000 4,000 2,000 0 OHS Members

Oklahoma Historical Society Donations FY19 FY20 FY21 $900,000 $800,000 $796,169 $700,000 $671,934 $600,000 $500,000 $464,404 $400,000 $300,000 $200,000 $201,085 $100,000 $140,322 $91,314 $0 Unrestricted Restricted

Museums and Sites Earned Revenue FY19 FY20 FY21 $700,000 $588,675 $600,000 $487,810 $500,000 $377,452 $400,000 $345,126 $285,899 $300,000 $224,577 $200,000 $88,304 $82,954 $100,000 $58,305 $55,229 $40,658 $18,170 $0 Admissions Gift Shop Programs Events

Overall Earned Revenue and Event Rentals at Oklahoma History Center FY19 FY20 FY21 $700,000 $600,000 $598,575 $500,000 $400,000 $409,091 $300,000 $323,000 $247,317 $200,000 $225,500 $100,000 $131,300 $0 Earned Revenue from all sources Event Space Rental

Oklahoma History Center Earned Revenue FY19 FY20 FY21 $30,000 $24,142 $25,000 $20,192 $20,000 $14,732 $14,231 $15,000 $13,875 $10,000 $7,932 $5,000 $3,313 $626 $300 $0 Live Programming Catering/Food Service Educational Programs

Mission-Related Impact OHS closed all museums and sites for two and a half months at the onset of the pandemic. The 2020 Annual History Conference was canceled. 2020 OHS Black Heritage Committee programing was canceled. This included a bus tour, Juneteenth event, and an in-house Black Heritage Film Festival. Educational programs and school visits to the History Center and OHS museums and sites are down more than 60 percent from FY19. Delayed opening of new exhibits due to supply chain and staffing problems. The OHS left 5 full-time positions and 2 temporary positions open during FY 20/21 in order to ensure cash reserves. Volunteer hours across OHS museums and sites are down over 60 percent. Deferred $500,000 in maintenance and repairs for OHS museums and sites.

OHS responses to COVID In 2021 OHS hosted a successful virtual History Conference, serving over 400 attendees National History Day competition was moved entirely to a virtual platform, serving 6,597 students. Partnership with Oklahoma Humanities on Oklahoma women s history, Herland transitioned to a virtual platform, serving 490 attendees. The OHS website created 20 new webpages with distance learning guides for teachers, developed a landing page on the OHS website during the pandemic lockdown providing a one- stop-shop of OHS online resources to students, teachers, and the general public, and created a landing page for Black history resources. Relaunched A Very OK Podcast to share Oklahoma history on a new platform. Engaged audiences with increased social media and virtual tour content. Offered History Center event space to other agencies for meetings and events to allow for social distancing. Shifted staff responsibilities for enhanced cleaning protocols.

Roadblocks to Successful Adaptation 10 years of budget cuts left the OHS with minimum levels of staffing. One staff member dedicated to the OHS website Zero full-time staff members dedicated solely to HR OHS lacked the AV/IT equipment and staff to quickly pivot to online programming. During the nearly two months that the OHS museums and sites were closed, most OHS staff utilized personal computers to work from home.

Deficiencies and Solutions As programing was forced to shift to a virtual format we were unable to pivot quickly due to a lack of staffing, technology, and training. The OHS is requesting $285,000 to help mitigate this problem. Hunter s Home, an 1845 plantation-style home, does not offer adequate space. To create a safe work environment for staff and create a better, safer visitor experience the site needs a visitor center to orient visitors to the living history farm, and provide space for a gift shop, admissions, offices, and programs. The total request is $2,000,000. The flagship of the OHS, the Oklahoma History Center can improve air quality with enhancement devices to mitigate virus transmission. The cost of this enhancement is $50,000. Many of the museums and historic sites are small and offer few spaces for safe social distancing. The pandemic has highlighted the need for safe outdoor spaces for exhibits, programs, and rental income. The agency ARPA request includes $2,935,000 to develop these spaces.

OKPOP Impact and Recovery Addressing fundraising and construction delays COVID-19 has greatly impacted the OKPOP construction timeline and the ability to raise the necessary funds to complete the project. ARPA funding will allow OKPOP to open sooner and begin bringing in new tax revenue. OKPOP was unable to begin private fundraising efforts during the pandemic. There were multiple construction delays due to supply chain interruptions. Travel restrictions greatly limited staff s ability to acquire historical objects and archive collections from Oklahoma creatives. Building plans and the visitor experience were re-evaluated based on COVID protocols.