How the Frontiers of Flight Museum Turned Storytelling Into Fundraising Success

When you walk into the Frontiers of Flight Museum, you aren’t just looking at cold metal and glass. You’re walking through history and innovation, offering a unique glimpse into aerospace and space, as well as ballooning and early aviation. 

Located on the outskirts of Dallas’s historic Love Field Airport, the museum has nine main exhibit spaces and houses more than 300,000 artifacts and aviation treasures. It’s there you can stand inches away from the Apollo 7 capsule, which carried three men into space with less computing power than the phone in your pocket. 

But to Abigail Erikson-Torres, the museum’s President and CEO, the most important “artifact” isn’t a plane or a capsule: it’s the stories of the people who flew and operated them. 

Turning stagnation into opportunity

At its core, the museum is driven by a deep purpose. As Abigail puts it, “We use the power of aerospace to improve society. Whether it’s a 4-year-old having their imagination sparked or a 103-year-old veteran sharing their memories, we are storytellers first.”

That purpose became even more important when Abigail joined the museum in July 2023. Like many institutions, the museum was still grappling with the aftereffects of COVID-19. Events had stalled and there was a perception that the museum was just a static space. But what Abigail saw was potential.

“This was a diamond,” she said. “It just needed a bit of polishing.” 

Under her leadership, the museum has reemerged with renewed energy and direction. It has expanded its programming, strengthened its partnerships, and repositioned itself as a dynamic hub for both education and community.  Today, it hosts more than 250 events each year, bringing people together in ways that go far beyond traditional exhibits.

To bring that vision to life, the museum needed a better way to stay connected with its community. Previous tools proved difficult to use, resulting in inconsistent outreach and missed opportunities to engage supporters. For a small team with a limited budget, consistency and ease of use were critical. That’s where Constant Contact came in.

Putting stories to work

One of Abigail’s first priorities was to create a way to consistently share the museum’s stories. That effort became their newsletter, Museum Minute, which now serves as a direct line of communication to their community. There, they highlight exhibits, promote events, and share the human stories behind the artifacts they house.

“Everything that we do, we talk about,” said Abigail.

With the addition of AI tools in Constant Contact, telling those stories has become even easier for the team. 

“I’m dyslexic, so having someone to check my work is always important. Now I can use AI to see if that reads well or if I misspelled something,” she said. “If I need an extra resource, I can just pop that in and it sort of says, ‘Have you tried this?’ I really like that.”

This consistent storytelling approach, paired with ongoing outreach, has driven measurable results, including a 13.5% increase in email list growth.

“Two and a half years ago, we weren’t raising as much money from the community as we could. Now people know how to sign up for things, or they know what’s going on.” 

That shift is reflected in other performance metrics, as well. Their email open rates consistently exceed their industry’s average by 5%, with their email campaigns directly driving attendance, increasing engagement, and supporting fundraising efforts. And that success is leading to measurable benefits for the museum — during a recent flooding emergency, the museum was able to launch a single, urgent email that helped to raise $10,000 in under 30 minutes. 

From connection to impact

As the museum has grown, so has its connection to the community and Constant Contact has been central to that growth. 

“I have been using Constant Contact as a best friend for the last 12 years.”

Today, email is embedded into everything the museum does, from promoting exhibits and selling event tickets to driving fundraising and sharing community stories. According to Abigail, those efforts have contributed to an estimated $300,000 in revenue, including more than $100,000 from their North Texas Giving Day appeals alone. 

“Constant Contact is a great way for other nonprofits to amplify what they’re doing for just a small investment,” she said.

But beyond fundraising, the real impact is seen in the people the museum reaches. Abigail has countless stories of people who leave the museum inspired. One particular young woman turned a visit into an internship and a decision to pursue engineering. And now, at just 19 years old, she is training to become a commercial pilot.

Looking ahead

With a new five-year strategic plan in place, the museum continues to build on the momentum they have created. New programming, including a Women in Flight installation, expanded education programs, and innovative experiences, such as the Aerospace Launchpad, are on the horizon. 

For Abigail and Frontiers of Flight, Constant Contact isn’t just a marketing platform — it’s how the museum brings its mission to life beyond its walls. 

“Constant Contact for me is like talking to somebody one-on-one,” says Abigail. “When they click that open button, it’s me talking to you directly. And I really love that.”