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Historic Milwaukee reports $7,795 in poster sales; Doors Open draws wide local participation
Summary
Historic Milwaukee briefed the committee on the 2025 poster sales program and Doors Open Milwaukee, reporting about $619,000 in nonprofit revenue overall and $7,795 from city poster sales; survey results showed substantial neighborhood discovery and high reported pride in the city.
Historic Milwaukee and the Department of City Development presented the 2025 annual report on neighborhood poster sales and the Doors Open Milwaukee program.
Luke Olson of the Department of City Development introduced the report. Stacy Swadesh, executive director of Historic Milwaukee, said the nonprofit’s total revenue in 2025 was about $619,000 and that sales tied to the city poster program produced $7,795 — roughly 1.2% of the nonprofit’s annual budget. Swadesh said proceeds support Historic Milwaukee’s educational programs and help underwrite Doors Open Milwaukee, a two‑day September program that opens historic sites to the public.
Swadesh reviewed visitor‑survey findings: 64% of Doors Open participants reported visiting a neighborhood they were previously unfamiliar with, and 72% planned to return; 42% of visitors lived within the City of Milwaukee and another 29% lived elsewhere in Milwaukee County; 82% said Doors Open made them feel proud to be a Milwaukeean. The presenters said the survey is conducted as an exit survey and that responses are self‑reported and entered manually; they also described using online outreach and paper surveys at event sites.
Committee members asked about survey timing, outreach and whether new sites would be rotated into the program; Swadesh said she expected 10–20% site turnover and limited new additions pending final confirmations. The committee thanked the presenters for the report and had no objections to accepting the communication.
