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Additional Information The Kittitas County Historical Museum is a private, nonprofit charitable <br />organization. With only two paid staff and 17 volunteers, we plan to continue <br />building awareness of the museum, which will reflectively increase our further <br />sustainability. <br />In 2013, we embarked on a newadvertising campaign after having been denied <br />funding the previous year. Through the new program we saw a positive response <br />from visitors. Overall, we saw a consistent 25-28% increase in attendance yearly, <br />especially in our targeted market. Our museum attendance nearly doubled from <br />4,975 in 2013 to 8,697 in 2015, and while 2016 decreased in visitation to 7,359, it <br />was a higher annual visitation rate than previous years. In 2018, we ended the year <br />with 8,201 visitors. <br />Our Museum Monthly Attendance numbers continue to show multi-year highs in our <br />visitor attendance, and while we have had a slight decline as of July 31, 2019, <br />(showing only 4,248 overall visitors compared to 4,397 in 2018), we expect by <br />year's end we will exceed the total number of 2018. <br />We have also had yearly increases in donations to the museum and gift shop sales <br />as a result of the increased visitation. Our donations are at 1,156% of the <br />anticipated amount for 2019, and we have already received 189% compared to last <br />year's amount. Gift shop sales are already exceeded the expected annual income <br />at a rate of 159%. We have invested more into the gift shop in 2019 which has in <br />turn increased sales. We plan to increase our offerings again for 2020, tying to <br />events and programming. <br />As another direct result of increased visitation, the museum has experimented with <br />its hours to meet the needs of the community. For example, the Museum was open <br />for 3 Sundays this year to coincide with major events (Spirit of the West, Jazz in the <br />Valley, and the Kittitas County Fair/Ellensburg Rodeo). These openings have <br />resulted in increased visitation to the museum as a whole, with an audience that <br />often has never had the opportunity to visit previously due to timing. This is the <br />third year we have done this, and we have had more visitors overall than the <br />previous year: 116 versus 85. Most visitors had not been in our museum before <br />and took the opportunity of the special hours to visit. <br />We also provide an evening venue for events and meetings. Further hour changes <br />are being discussed for 2020 to coincide with more events, including Girls Night <br />Out, Buskers in the Burg, and more, in addition to taking a more visible presence in <br />the com <br />2500 character lirrit <br />Supporting Documents You rray upload any supporting docurrents such as graphs, irrages, diagrarrs, rrarketing rraterials, etc. <br />Application Questions - Working Doc.pdf 144.54KB <br />You are allowed to subn it up to 3 single page (1.15 Letter) docurrents in JFG, FDF or TIFF forrrat <br />71 Previous Lodging Tax Grant Information <br />Previous Years Has your event received Lodging Tax funds in previous years? <br />Awarded Lodging Tax r No, this eventlproject has not previously received Lodging Tax Funding. <br />Grants* ; Yes, 1 yearpre�lous <br />C Yes, 2 years previous <br />C Yes, 3 or more years previous <br />How many participants and spectators attended last year's activity and/or will attend <br />this year? <br />