There is a good, very basic, book called "The Ultimate Board Member's Book". It outlines very concisely the qualities of a successful board, and what is generally expected of board members. I give a copy to every new board member at my museum! On 4/26/12, Alexandra Rollins <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > I would start at AAM, which has an archive of information on these subjects > as well as models. If you would like to chat offline, I can give you other > information. > Best wishes. > > Alexandra Rollins > Alexandra Rollins Associates > Nonprofit, Grants, Arts Management > 24 Goodrich Road, Jamaica Plain > Boston, MA 02130-2005 > 617-524-6007 > www.rollinsupton.com > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On > Behalf > Of Meg Justus > Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2012 3:01 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: [MUSEUM-L] strategic planning > > I am currently working on a project at a small local history museum. The > board president is my liaison, and she has gotten in the habit of > discussing museum matters with me, because except for the contract work > I'm doing for them, they are an all-volunteer organization without much, > if any, museum experience. And, no, they're not up to hiring even a part > time director yet. > > She is painfully aware that the board she has inherited is not what it > should be in terms of doing the work as opposed to just being warm bodies > at the table. She knows that the museum needs to plan going forward, and > that much work is going to have to be done to get to the point where they > can plan, including recruiting more board members who are actually willing > to do the work, and making the existing warm bodies realize the museum > needs more from them if they want to stay on. > > What I'm looking for are some good basic articles on the subjects of what > a good museum board does, and on the importance of (and how to do) > strategic planning, to give her so she can share them with her board. > I've been searching myself, but I would prefer some good recommendations > for reading material for them if anyone has any. > > Her heart's decidedly in the right place, but I suspect they've got a long > uphill road ahead of them. > > ========================================================= > Important Subscriber Information: > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at > http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed > information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail > message > to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read > "help" > (without the quotes). > > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to > [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff > Museum-L" (without the quotes). > > ========================================================= > Important Subscriber Information: > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at > http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed > information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message > to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" > (without the quotes). > > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to > [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff > Museum-L" (without the quotes). > ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).