The Indianapolis Zoo operates its traditional zoo as well as the White
River Gardens, which is a education/exhibition center for Midwestern
gardening.  I believe that executive, senior and middle management are
not separate (i.e., they handle both entities), but daily operation is
done by separate staffs.  I think also there are separate boards for
each, but you'd have to ask them.

http://www.indyzoo.com for some general information



Julia Moore
Indianapolis Art Center




> Colleagues:
>
> I'm working with a small local/regional 501(c)(3) history museum and
> have been asked to seek models for organizational structure that
might
> help us.
>
> This local museum has operated for 16 years using support staff only
> (presently a part time office assistant and a curator who mainly
deals
> with exhibits). The Board members act as a sort of management team
with
> the Board President the primary manager.  Needless to say, there has
> been a lack of professional direction, but it appears that hiring a
> director is not possible right now.   The museum has put major
emphasis
> and funds on changing exhibits which are developed by volunteer
teams,
> but with a curator doing much of the work. The exhibits are, in
fact,
> quite good.
>
> Now the museum has inherited a 40 acre ranch with a significant
historic
> home and several outbuildings. A tidy endowment will come with it,
but
> income from it may not cover much more than the cost of maintenance.
> Presently a By-laws Committee is working to restructure the
organization
> to effectively manage both entities. The idea presently being put
> forward is to have, under the Museum Association Board of
Directors*,
> independent "Boards" or "Councils" to manage each of the two
entities,
> the museum and the ranch.  Even if more staff is hired, the idea is
that
> each 'council' of volunteer managers would be making most decisions
for
> 'their' entity.  At this point, this includes site development,
> programming, fund raising and financial management.  The idea of
moving
> other historic buildings onto the ranch has already been broached,
as
> well as other major decisions of long term import.
>
> There has not been emphasis on collection management in the past,
and,
> in fact, at times the museum has called itself a 'non-collecting'
> museum, due to lack of storage space. The house, however, comes with
all
> of the family furniture, antiques and household items, as well as
some
> agricultural equipment, so collection management now looms much
larger.
>
> *The Board of Directors would be composed of two representatives
each
> from the museum and ranch, two 'independents' and a financial
officer.
> It would start as a seven person board but could expand to 15.
(Concern
> for immediate expansion to 15 is that there would not be a large
enough
> pool to fill so many positions.) It would also oversee a third
entity,
> the "Foundation" which is not a separate foundation, but an
> endowment/investment development and management committee.
>
>
> So, here are some questions for all you good heads out there:
>
> 1. Do any of you have management models that are working well for an
> organization with two rather different facilities under a single
> organization?
>
> 2. What advantages/disadvantages do you see to the proposed model,
and
> can you foresee any management or organizational pitfalls if this
model
> is adopted.
>
> 3. What specific functions should be managed overall (i.e. not
> separately by the two different committees or "councils"), and what
> types of decisions should be reserved for the Board of Directors?
>
>
> Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Reply either to
the
> list or to me personally, and, if possible, include your current
> position or experience as replies will be passed on to the
committee.
> (Flag me if any comments need to be held confidential.)  Thanks so
much.
>
> Lucy Sperlin
> [log in to unmask]
>
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