Why would you donate now?

IEF isn’t brand new.  Yet it is.  New name, new plan, new board, new organization in many ways.

Beginning in 2014, as Indiana Music and Entertainment Museum (IMEM), we explored the prospects of a physical museum.  We held public events and rented a small office space at the Wheeler Arts center in Fountain Square that we used as a pilot museum.  The founders and volunteers got to know each other’s interests, hopes and dreams.  Over time, it became clear that a physical museum–as desirable as it may be–was not where we should start.

While we were figuring this out, we chose not to raise funds.  Sure, we asked for donations at our public events, and we got enough to help keep our  bills paid (thank you!).  But never did we feel comfortable going all out to ask for money.  We didn’t apply for grants then even though we’ve had tax deductible 501(c)(3) status since 2016. We didn’t even put a PayPal button on our website.  Rent for office space was paid out of the pockets of the founders.

We have a pretty clear idea of our goals now.  We’ve launched Indiana Music Radio, a constant stream of Indiana music.  We’re building a definitive Indiana physical music collection on vinyl, CD, tape and 78.  We’re going to build the ultimate Indiana music history virtual museum online. We plan to follow with similar sites for Indiana film and broadcasting.  We’ll continue with live events, including the Wes Montgomery Fest and a launch a public forum series on Indiana music history.  We have other plans that will be announced down the road.  These and other initiatives will be funded through a combination of grants, sponsorships, donations and memberships.

We are also building partnerships with existing facilities so that their visitors can get more familiar with Indiana entertainment history.  This summer, you’ll be able to see some of our collection in digital form at Indiana Historical Society’s Indianapolis bicentennial exhibit.  You’ll also find other parts of our collection at the digital  Indiana Memory Project, hosted by the Indiana State Library.

And, we’re working on an educational component so that schools can help students gain important knowledge of our state’s entertainment history.

So why donate now?  Because it’s time.  We’ve laid the groundwork for efforts that will benefit all Hoosiers and honor those who’ve given much of their lives to entertain us during the past century or so.  Now we’re doing the heavy lifting it will take to achieve this.

That means we need members, in-kind donations and funding.  We need volunteers.  We need donations of entertainment artifacts.  All those things combine to help achieve the mission of saving the vast and important legacy of Indiana entertainment.

Can you help?