Blending financial operations and antiracism, this book teaches readers to examine how the power of money is deployed in museums.

How a museum carries out its finance functions is rarely a prominent feature of conversations about DEIA or mission, vision, and values; but what if thinking through how assumptions about finance–from balanced budgets to banking choices and beyond – was actually a linchpin in a museum's strategic success? What if, for example, a museum's understanding of how and why it functions in support of the often invisible expectations of capitalism was the key in helping its staff, leadership, and Board embrace and practice anti-racist missions and values on a daily basis?

Museum Finance for Belonging reveals how the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) turned these hypotheticals into a new perspective onfinances and financial decision-making that truly supports and uplifts its community.

Using the Liberatory Financial Ethos Continuum and anecdotes from OMCA's journey of discovery as points of reference, this book helps financial and non-financial museum professionals examine questions for their own organizations, such as:
- What is the organization's predominant point of view when it considers the role of money in its operations?
- How does this point of view manifest in the financial operations of the organization?
- What implications does that have for financial and organizational decision-making?
- Why is it critical for a museum's financial policies and philosophies to work intentionally in support of its community and social impact?
- How might a change in perspective about finance's role in a museum lead to a long-term shift toward healthier community ecosystems?