The Heritage Resource Center is a program of the Connecticut Humanities Council and is made possible in part with major support from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism.

Additional support is provided by:

The State of Connecticut
The National Endowment for the Humanities
The Maximilian E. & Marion O. Hoffman Foundation

Running a museum or historical society in today’s economic climate is more difficult than ever.  You are expected to increase your audience, maintain a balanced budget, and make your institution an integral part of its community.  At the same time, endowments are down due to the stock market collapse, donor giving has decreased, and staff layoffs are an all too real reality.

But you don’t always have to be a great leader—if you are a smart one.  Knowing where to turn to for advice can help any director succeed. 

Below, we have gathered the essential list of readings and resources to help you maximize your staff’s potential, recruit and train an effective board, and keep your institution focused on its mission—information focused on appreciation of the new trends facing the field and the best practices for addressing them as we reshape our organizations to meet the needs of today’s audiences.

Want to know more?  Visit the HRC Community Center to dig deeper and see all Leadership related resources.

Boardsource & Board Café: Board Practice & Current Board Info
		Help is available for you and your board to get up-to-date information and examples of necessary documents and policies.Two good places for comprehensive information are BoardSource and Board Café. Boardsource is rich with resources for anyone interested in governance, finance, and... Read More >>

National Standards & Best Practices for U.S. Museums
		How can you find advice in all areas of museum management, all under one cover? National Standards & Best Practices for U.S. Museums by Elizabeth E. Merritt, former director of AAM's Museum Advancement and Excellence Department and founding director of AAM's Center for the Future of Museums, is a good place to start... Read More >>

Good To Great & The Social Sectors
		How can you move your organization from Good to Great? Management guru Jim Collins' first book described the steps a business or corporation had to take to move from good to great. This short pamphlet takes the model he developed for the business world and translates it into workable principles for non-profits.Collins claims that... Read More >>

Understanding Change & Transformation in History Organizations
		Candace Matelic's article, "Understanding Change and Transformation in History Organizations" (AALSH History News 63.2, Spring 2008), is a must read to understand the complexity of initiating change and transformation within a history organization. After studying seven very different history museums in various parts of the... Read More >>

Fieldstone Alliance
		Nonprofits are the heart of society. Fieldstone Alliance helps them soar. Nonprofit centered. Knowledge based. Results Focused. Fieldstone Alliance is a consulting group - they are a business, not a non-profit. That said, their website and e-newsletter (2x month) offer insightful, up to the minute, trend-setting, free information for... Read More >>

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