Bishop Museum
Bishop Museum is the State Museum of Natural and Cultural History of Hawaiʻi, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating a 15-acre Honolulu campus housing 25+ million Hawaiian and Pacific cultural and natural history objects, serving 200,000+ annual visitors through signature galleries, a planetarium, and educational programs.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1889
- HeadquartersHonolulu, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Bishop Museum does
Bishop Museum (legally Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit designated as the State Museum of Natural and Cultural History of Hawaiʻi, founded in 1889 by Charles Reed Bishop in memory of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop. The institution operates a 15-acre campus in Honolulu housing more than 25 million objects and specimens across nine disciplines — including over 22 million biological specimens, more than 2 million cultural objects, 115,000 historical publications, and 1 million photographs, films, and manuscripts. It serves over 200,000 visitors annually, including 20,000 K-12 students on school visits and 70,000 planetarium attendees, making it the world's premier institution for Hawaiian and Pacific content by collection scope and scholarly depth.
The museum's core product platform consists of signature galleries (Hawaiian Hall, Pacific Hall, the 16,500 sq ft Richard T. Mamiya Science Adventure Center, the Nā Ulu Kaiwiʻula Native Hawaiian Garden, the Picture Gallery, and the Kāhili Room), the 64-seat J. Watumull Planetarium featuring GOTO Chronos II optical star projection and Digistar 4K full-dome video, and a rotating slate of special exhibitions (Ea Mai ʻEiwa: Patterns of Practice, Aloha Bricks '26, Lele o Nā Manu, Sounds of the Ocean). The 25 million-item collection is a primary scientific and cultural research asset, with ongoing digitization efforts making less than 10% of items currently available online. Educational and community programs include the Education Docent Volunteer Program, the Te Rangi Hīroa Curators and Caretakers Fellowship with cross-institutional mentorship, the annual Science & Sustainability Festival, Museum After Hours evening events, City Nature Challenge bioblitz coordination via iNaturalist, and school field trip programming.
Revenue is generated through a hybrid nonprofit model: one-time museum admission and planetarium ticket sales ($3-25 per program), recurring annual memberships, philanthropic grants and donations (notably a $500,000 Save America's Treasures grant for the plant repository in 2023), facility rentals across eight venue spaces and three conference rooms, partner-operated on-campus retail (Shop Pacifica) and dining (Tūtū's Place by Highway Inn), and publishing through Bishop Museum Press (1,200+ titles, 1M+ books distributed in 72 countries). The museum's distribution is entirely on-site at its Honolulu campus, with digital reach supplemented by the Bloomberg Connects app and a basic AI-assisted "Ask this paper" feature on select publications.
Bishop Museum firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Bishop Museum
- Legal name
- Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum
- Website
- https://bishopmuseum.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1889
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Bishop Museum is the State Museum of Natural and Cultural History of Hawaiʻi, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating a 15-acre Honolulu campus housing 25+ million Hawaiian and Pacific cultural and natural history objects, serving 200,000+ annual visitors through signature galleries, a planetarium, and educational programs.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Bishop Museum industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Cultural and Natural History Museum
- NAICS
- Museums (71211), Museums (712110)
- SIC
- Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)
- akta.pro primary industry
- History Museums (THAJADAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Natural History Museums (THAJADAC), Science & Technology Museums (THAJADAD), Museums & Heritage Sites (History, Science, Specialty) (BPAGAHAA)
Keywords
Where Bishop Museum is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Honolulu
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Bishop Museum business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Museum Admission: Single admission price allows access to all signature galleries; additional fees for planetarium shows and special programs.
- Membership Program: Annual memberships providing free admission, discounts at shop and cafe, and other benefits.
- Grants and Donations: Received $500,000 grant for plant repository preservation; operates as 501(c)(3) nonprofit accepting donations, stock donations, IRA rollovers, and planned gifts.
- Facility Rentals: Museum campus available for private and corporate functions, weddings, cocktail parties, and events across eight venue spaces and three conference rooms.
- Retail Operations: On-site restaurant (Tūtū's Place by Highway Inn) and gift shop (Shop Pacifica by Nā Mea Hawaiʻi) operated by partners; museum receives revenue from campus traffic.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | General Admission for planetarium special events |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Daily Planetarium Shows |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Navigating by the Stars evening program |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Science & Sustainability Festival 2026 |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Museum After Hours monthly event |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels6 records
Bishop Museum product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Bishop Museum operates as the State Museum of Natural and Cultural History of Hawaiʻi, providing visitor access to signature galleries (Hawaiian Hall, Pacific Hall, Science Adventure Center), the 64-seat J. Watumull Planetarium, special exhibitions, and educational programs supported by a 25+ million object collection. The museum generates revenue through admissions, annual memberships, facility rentals, school field trips, planetarium shows, partner-operated retail and dining, and charitable contributions.
Product overview
Bishop Museum is a natural and cultural history museum serving as the State Museum of Natural and Cultural History of Hawaiʻi. The museum operates as a unified platform offering physical visitor experiences (galleries, planetarium, gardens) combined with educational programs and digital initiatives. The core product portfolio includes signature galleries (Hawaiian Hall, Pacific Hall, Science Adventure Center), the J. Watumull Planetarium with ticketed shows, rotating exhibitions, educational programs (docent program, fellowships), and special events (Museum After Hours, Science & Sustainability Festival). Supporting amenities include Tūtū's Place café, Shop Pacifica gift shop, and digital offerings through Bloomberg Connects. The museum's collections exceed 25 million objects across nine disciplines including more than 22 million biological specimens, over 2 million cultural objects, and 115,000 historical publications.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- J. Watumull Planetarium: Planetarium facility serving over 70,000 visitors annually with programs about Hawai'i and the Pacific, navigation, astronomy, and natural sciences.
- Richard T. Mamiya Science Adventure Center
Products and services
- General Museum Admission
- J. Watumull Planetarium
- Annual Membership Program
- Facility Rentals
- Education Field Trips
- Science & Sustainability Festival
- Museum After Hours
- Wayfinders: He Waʻa He Moku, He Moku He Waʻa
- Ea Mai ʻEiwa: Patterns of Practice
- Aloha Bricks '26: Stories of Hawaiʻi
- Sounds of the Ocean
- Tūtū's Place by Highway Inn
- Shop Pacifica by Nā Mea Hawaiʻi
- Te Rangi Hīroa Curators and Caretakers Fellowship
- City Nature Challenge
- Living Culture Program
Quantifiable outcome
- Serves 200,000+ visitors annually including 20,000 children on school visits
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Bishop Museum
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Bishop Museum technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
AI capability2 records
Feature3 records
Bishop Museum partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
14 partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and major.
- HawaiiKidsCANminorCo-hosting free Hawaii School Expo at Bishop Museum on January 25, 2026, connecting families with over 35 public, charter, and private schools during National School Choice Week
- National School Choice Awareness FoundationminorCo-hosting Hawaii School Expo at Bishop Museum during National School Choice Week
- British MuseumcoreTe Rangi Hīroa Fellowship provides fellows access to mentorship from colleagues at partner museums including the British Museum
- Te Papa (Museum of New Zealand)coreFellows in the Te Rangi Hīroa Fellowship have access to mentorship from colleagues at Te Papa
- Metropolitan Museum of ArtcoreFellows in the Te Rangi Hīroa Fellowship have access to mentorship from colleagues at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Hawaiian AirlinesmajorPresenting sponsor of May Day 2026 Lei Day celebration and supporter of Ea Mai ʻEiwa exhibition
- First Hawaiian BankmajorSupport of Ea Mai ʻEiwa exhibition showcasing Hawaiian cultural heritage
- Arizona State UniversitycoreCo-organizer of Mālama Maʻawe Iho: Fibers in Focus symposium and collaborator on Wayfinders exhibit interactive elements
- University of Hawaiʻi at MānoacorePartner in annual symposium and collaboration on cultural and scientific research initiatives
- MatsonmajorCorporate supporter of Ea Mai ʻEiwa exhibition celebrating Hawaiian cultural heritage
- Polynesian Voyaging SocietycoreCollaborated with Bishop Museum to produce Wayfinders: Waves, Winds, and Stars planetarium show; Museum planetarium instrumental in recovery of traditional navigation knowledge
- Highway InnmajorOperates Tūtū's Place restaurant on Bishop Museum campus, serving Hawaiian cuisine to visitors
- Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR)coreCollaboration on Science & Sustainability Festival programming including Coastal Kuleana panels and City Nature Challenge
- San Diego Zoo Wildlife AlliancecoreBishop Museum is a pilot site in their global network of biobanks supporting biodiversity conservation
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Bishop Museum competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Field Museum: Chicago-based natural history institution with comparable biological specimen scale, permanent galleries, research staff, and signature exhibitions. Notably, Bishop Museum trademarks are referenced as registered to The Field Museum in their Terms of Use, indicating a historical administrative relationship.
- Te Papa Tongarewa (Museum of New Zealand): New Zealand's national museum and a direct Pacific-region peer, sharing a mandate to preserve indigenous cultural heritage alongside natural history collections. Te Papa is also a formal Te Rangi Hīroa Fellowship partner of Bishop Museum.
- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History: The U.S. federal natural history museum, with similarly vast specimen holdings, scientific research output, and signature public galleries that directly mirror Bishop Museum's collection-and-exhibition model.
- California Academy of Sciences: San Francisco-based natural history museum with a planetarium, aquarium, and research institute. Its combination of immersive science experiences, large biological collection, and educational programming parallels Bishop Museum's Science Adventure Center and J. Watumull Planetarium model.
- Queensland Museum: Australian state museum with overlapping Pacific and natural history collections, indigenous cultural programming, and a research-driven operating model that closely mirrors Bishop Museum's mandate.
- American Museum of Natural History: A flagship natural history museum in New York City with comparable focus on biological, cultural, and geological collections, plus a long-running research and exhibition program analogous to Bishop Museum's nine-discipline collection.
- Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History: A university-affiliated natural history museum with comparable zoological, botanical, and anthropological collections and a strong research and exhibition program analogous to Bishop Museum's nine-discipline holdings.
Regional players
- Polynesian Cultural Center: Oʻahu-based Pacific cultural attraction offering interactive experiences across Polynesian cultures. It competes for the same cultural-tourism audience and school-group visits that Bishop Museum serves in Honolulu.
- ʻIolani Palace: The official royal palace of the Hawaiian monarchy, a regional heritage attraction with significant overlap to Bishop Museum's Hawaiian Hall and Kāhili Room exhibits around aliʻi history and the Kamehameha/Bishop lineage.
- Honolulu Museum of Art: Honolulu's primary art museum, the closest geographic peer. While Bishop Museum emphasizes natural and cultural history and Honolulu Museum of Art focuses on fine art, both compete for the same local resident and tourist visitation in Honolulu.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Bishop Museum social profiles
Digital presenceBishop Museum compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Bishop Museum financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Bishop Museum leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles11 records
Bishop Museum subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries3 records
Bishop Museum funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
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Bishop Museum M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Bishop Museum
What does Bishop Museum do?
Bishop Museum operates as the State Museum of Natural and Cultural History of Hawaiʻi, providing visitor access to signature galleries (Hawaiian Hall, Pacific Hall, Science Adventure Center), the 64-seat J. Watumull Planetarium, special exhibitions, and educational programs supported by a 25+ million object collection. The museum generates revenue through admissions, annual memberships, facility rentals, school field trips, planetarium shows, partner-operated retail and dining, and charitable contributions.
Is Bishop Museum a public or private company?
Bishop Museum is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Bishop Museum founded?
Bishop Museum was founded in 1889. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Bishop Museum based?
Bishop Museum is headquartered in Honolulu, United States, in the North America region.
How does Bishop Museum make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Museum Admission is the primary driver. The others are membership Program, grants and Donations, facility Rentals and retail Operations.
Who are Bishop Museum's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Field Museum, Te Papa Tongarewa (Museum of New Zealand), Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, California Academy of Sciences, Queensland Museum, American Museum of Natural History and Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. Regional players are Polynesian Cultural Center, ʻIolani Palace and Honolulu Museum of Art.
Does Bishop Museum have an API?
No public API is recorded for Bishop Museum.
What industry is Bishop Museum in?
Bishop Museum's product category is Cultural and Natural History Museum. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAJADAB, History Museums, with a secondary code of THAJADAC, Natural History Museums. Its NAICS code is 71211 and its SIC code is 7900.