Hill-Stead Museum, a historic house museum with 152 acres of property, is also
experienceing explosive growth in the area of facility rentals, and we are
struggling with many of the same issues. We now have one part time person in
charge of this area, and we still do set-up and clean-up in house, though
we're looking at hiring additional PT people to do this. Facility rentals is a
division of the development department.

One thing we try to do is not sell ourselves short. Corporate members can rent
our facility for corporate events. If a person wishes to hold a private event,
such as a wedding, they must join the Museum at a high donor level. Of course
there are many people who try to get around these rules and our director deals
with them on a case-by-case basis.

The Museum does not alter its normal public hours to accomodate facility
rentals and brides, especially, have to understand that there will be some
members of the general public milling around near their receptions. To
incorporate our education mission into each event, we require that each group
pay for an open house tour of our Museum. (Some groups may opt not to do it,
but they still have to pay for it.)

I think the most important thing to do is to NOT undersell what you have to
offer. don't be afraid to say no to certain events if you're not confident
that your staff can handle the workload. Better to do fewer events very well
than many events poorly.

D.P. Goodrich