Alaska Native Heritage Center

Grantee:  Alaska Native Heritage Center
Location:  Anchorage, Alaska
Award:  Strengthening the Arts and Cultures Infrastructure
Discipline:  Regional Collaboration Pilot Program
Web Site:  http://alaskanative.net/

A globally renowned cultural facility, the Alaska Native Heritage Center (ANHC) promotes and shares the rich heritage of Alaska’s 11 different cultural groups. Their programming is inclusive of all the Native peoples in Alaska and the center not only features cultural artifacts, physical culture and a beautifully expansive campus, but is a living facility that offers a diverse array of programs including artist classes, cultural workshops, high school immersion camps, internships and cultural events all in outreach to the greater community.

ANHC boasts strong leadership, a primarily Native board and staff, strong support from the state’s Native peoples and serves as a cultural beacon in terms of the capacity of its administration, scope of its programming and cultural presence in the community.

Funding for ANHC was used to develop institutional marketing featuring ANHC as an essential Alaska Native arts organization, cultural tourism destination and gathering place of Alaska Native people. Support for marketing, outreach, public relations, and communications were used to develop membership promotional materials and marketing to individuals, corporations, and shareholders. More specifically, ANHC applied a portion of these funds toward aggressive individual/corporate donor solicitation and cultivation events. For example, part of the funds were used for a Fundraising breakfast event that raised $30,000. Corporate donations have increased overall with this sustained, focused effort.

In addition, Alaska Native Heritage Center staff were supported by this funding to travel to Juneau and advocate for inclusion in the Alaska Education Tax Credit option. This change in legislation is expected to result in much more substantial corporate donations (and incentives to donate). This landmark change in tax credit access also prompted the need for marketing materials (brochures) to inform corporations of this new option, which is expected to generate more consistent funding for the center.

*This award was made possible with generous support from the Rasmuson Foundation in Anchorage, Alaska.