The San Diego Museum of Man is a cultural and physical anthropology museum. We collect, preserve, interpret, and communicate evidence of human development, creativity, and artistic expression. The exhibitions of the world-renowned Museum of Man are a major resource for the San Diego community. Permanent exhibits explore the Maya, ancient Egypt, the Kumeyaay Indians of San Diego County, Human Evolution, and the Human Life Cycle. Education is one of the primary functions of the Museum of Man. Through programs which offer engaging and stimulating experiences, the Museum creates a dynamic learning environment for children and adults. We are committed to promoting an understanding of the diverse cultures of the world, human biology, and human ecology through quality education programs.
The San Diego Museum of Man is a cultural and physical anthropology museum. We collect, preserve, interpret, and communicate evidence of human development, creativity, and artistic expression. The exhibitions of the world-renowned Museum of Man are a major resource for the San Diego community. Permanent exhibits explore the Maya, ancient Egypt, the Kumeyaay Indians of San Diego County, Human Evolution, and the Human Life Cycle. Education is one of the primary functions of the Museum of Man. Through programs which offer engaging and stimulating experiences, the Museum creates a dynamic learning environment for children and adults. We are committed to promoting an understanding of the diverse cultures of the world, human biology, and human ecology through quality education programs.
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Charting Impact
What is your organization aiming to accomplish?
The San Diego Museum of Man is committed to inspiring human connections by exploring the human experience. We are motivated to create a dynamic place in San Diego where people come to learn from each other, reflect on their place in the world, and build a better community. We are driven to be a dynamic place in San Diego where people come to learn from each other, reflect on their place in the world, and build a better community. The Museum is engaged in a long-term experience planning process to prioritize diversity and the perspectives of underrepresented communities in its exhibits and educational programming. This process has impelled us to work closely with Native American communities to steward and repatriate appropriate items held in our collections. Additionally, we are prioritizing indigenous perspective and voice in decision-making at all levels of the organization as part of our promise to reverse the legacies of colonialism in our home.
What are your strategies for making this happen?
Over the last decade, SDMoM has shifted its approach from a traditional anthropology museum to one that uses contemporary social issues and popular culture as a catalyst for explorations of the past, present, and future of what it means to be human. Our current exhibit/educational offerings include various guided tours and workshops of our Ancient Egypt, Maya, Kumeyaay, Living With Animals, Race: Are We So Different?, PostSecret, Monsters!, Cannibals, and Beerology exhibits.
What are your organization's capabilities for doing this?
Our institution relies on the hard work of our 64 staff members and over 200 volunteers.
How will your organization know if you are making progress?
For exhibits: In order to ensure that we maximize the impact of our visitor experience, our team conducts visitor surveys. Visitor surveys and tracking continues even after an exhibit is installed and open to the public in order to make necessary adjustments based on live feedback. Our commitment to collaboration and the extensive research in the development phases of production is critical to making sure we meet our goals. Once the exhibit is up and running, we will develop public programming experiences for visitors to enhance the exhibit experience. For educational programming: All of SDMoM’s student programs are aligned with the principles of STEAM learning to increase critical thinking and problem solving skills in students. The Museum’s educational staff measures programming success through surveys and teacher feedback on the curriculum. They conduct regular “mock tours” to gather feedback on how to improve programs. The education team tracks program success metrics to ensure goals are met. Additionally, they identify the most effective aspects of the program and expound on them to better support student learning. SDMoM conducts learning surveys with students to gauge what they are and aren’t retaining to inform the improvement of our programming.
What have and haven't you accomplished so far?
Total Museum Vistors = 182,413 Trend: SDMoM averages 15,000 visitors per month, with increases in the Summer months. Total Students Served (including Title I. & SITP): 6,571 70% of Students Served through SDMoM's Education Programs in FY19 were from Title I Schools. Total Ed & Public Program Participants: 13,858
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This impact information is current as of November 2019, when it was provided to us by GuideStar.
At this time, Impact information published on this organization's page has no effect on its rating per our methodology.
Program names and associated costs are listed for the top programs as reported on the charity's most recently filed Form 990. The top programs displayed will include the largest three programs, or those programs covering at least 60% of the charity's total expenses, whichever comes first.
Program Name
Amount Spent
% of Program Expenses
Collections, Direction & Exhibitions
$2,960,463
81.6%
Education
$604,885
16.7%
Museum Program Events
$61,819
1.7%
Ratings History San Diego Museum of Man has received 5 consecutive 4-star ratings from Charity Navigator.
Independent - the organization is an independent organization or an independent auxiliary (i.e., not affiliated with a National, Regional, or Geographic grouping of organizations).
