Black Hills Children’s Museum updates council on site, fundraising and Feb. 11 capital-campaign kickoff

Susan Dodson, director of operations for the Black Hills Children’s Museum, told the Box Elder City Council on Jan. 20 that the museum has secured land around 411 Berkey Drive and is moving ahead with operations planning and a capital campaign. She said a memorandum of understanding between the city and the museum has been approved and museum staff are reviewing contracts, vendor proposals and pricing as part of pre-opening work.

Dodson described the campaign structure: a silent phase focused on grant applications and major-donor cultivation, followed by a public phase once initial fundraising goals are met. She said the museum is preparing a case statement and is seeking a quote from the base commander for promotional materials. Dodson told the council the museum board plans a retreat and to pass a board resolution on Feb. 11 to formally kick off the capital campaign; the retreat will also launch two standing committees, fundraising and communications/outreach.

Dodson listed recent community engagement and small fundraising wins, saying a Monster Mash event netted $1,476 with matching funds from the Box Elder Chamber and that the museum participated in other community events. She said staff are continuing grant research and coordinating with local contacts (named in the presentation as Tara and Rob) to identify funding opportunities and that vendor information for needed services such as VoIP is still being collected.

Dodson offered printed folders with campaign messaging and asked council members to share them with interested partners. She closed by inviting further questions and offered to leave presentation materials for city staff to review.

The museum’s immediate next steps, as stated to the council, are finalizing contract details, obtaining the base-commander quote for campaign materials, completing the case statement, and having the board pass a resolution and launch committees on Feb. 11.