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] > > ========================================================= > 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).