From: Jason Tish <jason.tish@gmail.com> Date: Fri, 11 Oct 2019 15:44:38 -0500 Message-ID: <CAMxN_vHJ4xWUZNLHM_ivhRQbwbo6z0uy_K5cZz_n2ijmP+gT3A@mail.gmail.com> Subject: Re: advice for starting a local history center
Thanks Jon. Good advice. Others have said the same thing, so it's clearly
important.
-Jason
On Mon, Sep 30, 2019 at 7:33 PM Douglas County Historical Society <
dchs@douglashistory.org> wrote:
> Start out by creating a business plan including financial projections for
> both income and expenses. Just like any business, a non-profit needs a
> business plan.
>
> Jon Winter
> Douglas County Historical Society
> 1101 John Avenue Superior WI 54880
> Business Manager
> 715-392-8449
>
>
>
> On Mon, Sep 30, 2019 at 5:26 PM Jason Tish <jason.tish@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi everyone-
>>
>> I'm involved with a small energetic group working on a plan for a local
>> history center for Madison. Local history in Madison is a unique
>> situation. We have only a narrow niche that is not covered by the State
>> Historical Society, the UW Archives, the Madison Public Library's local
>> history collections, and the Dane County Historical Society. We have a
>> solid handle on that niche.
>>
>> What we really need advice on is how to actually plan for, and create the
>> physical space for a history center/museum/research facility. Our current
>> model entails a small exhibition space, and archival facility, and space
>> for an office, a reading room, and presentations. We expect it to be an
>> iterative process where we start out in a space that may not have all of
>> that. Our priority is to bring together a collection of documents and
>> artifacts in order to demonstrate the need for a permanent facility. We can
>> do do that initially in a facility that doesn't;t meet all of our needs,
>> and later move to facility that does (unless fund-raising proves more
>> successful than we expect)
>>
>> If you have ever been involved in developing a local history facility,
>> what is the one piece of advice (or two) that you wish someone had given
>> you before you started?
>>
>> --
>> - Jason
>>
>
-- - Jason