Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 104
•
Trim: 8⅛ x 11
978-1-5381-0839-0 • Paperback • March 2018 • $48.00 • (£37.00)
978-1-5381-0840-6 • eBook • March 2018 • $45.50 • (£35.00)
TheMuseum Trustee Association was formed as a committee of the American Association of Museums (now known as the American Alliance of Museums) in 1971. The Museum Trustee Association broke away from AAM in 1986 and received its federal IRS 501(c)(3) status in 1991. Since then, MTA has been governed by an elected Board of Directors representing diverse regions of the United States, Caribbean, Canada, and Mexico, a variety of museum disciplines and sizes, and wide-ranging areas of expertise in trusteeship. All are current or former museum trustees, and several are founders of MTA.
Daryl Fischer founded Musynergy Consulting in 1993 to provide strategic and interpretive planning, audience evaluation, and board development services to museums and other cultural nonprofits. Her service on numerous nonprofit boards including the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts (Grand Rapids, MI), the Visitor Studies Association, and the Progressive Women’s Alliance of the Lakeshore has given her a profound appreciation for passion, energy, and expertise board members bring to the organizations they serve.
Laura B. Roberts is principal of Roberts Consulting, working with cultural nonprofit organizations on strategic planning, assessment, and organizational development. She is the chair of the Central Square Theater in Cambridge MA and former chaired the boards of Tufts University Art Gallery, MassHumanities and First Night Boston. She teaches museum and nonprofit management at Harvard University Extension, Bank Street College of Education, and Northeastern University.
About Templates for Trustees
Using the Templates for Trustees Online App
Transition as an Opportunity for Strategic Growth
Executive Transitions User’s Guide
Chapter 1: Preparing for a New Future
Chapter 2: The Groundwork Stage
Chapter 3: The Search Stage
Chapter 4: The Transition Stage
Resource Guide for Executive Transitions
Appendix A: Checklist of Materials for Interim and Incoming Directors
Appendix B: Ground Rules for Effective Meetings
Appendix C: Search Committee Retreat Activities
As a board member, I often feel vulnerable. Asked to participate because of my previous experience, I may never have dealt with specific issues so I would eagerly turn to this series as a comforting format of sound practical advice. Further I would always choose Fischer and Roberts as my best possible advisors.
— Elaine Heumann Gurian, senior museum consultant, The Museum Group
The Museum Trustee Association series on working with Boards is a wonderful resource for them and the director. The templates lay out best practices for board members--participating in strategic planning, engaging in accreditation, and empowering them to work with the director ensure the museum’s financial stability.
— Nancy Doll, director, Weatherspoon Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
MTA’s templates have been extremely helpful to our Board of Trustees and our staff. They provide relevant and useful information that is easy to use. Their “real world” orientation makes them essential tools for any museum.
— Bruce Eldredge, executive director, Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, WY
The MTA templates are a most useful tool for governance and board development committees everywhere. They are simple to customize and to collate--great attributes for museums like ours. I've even used them for non-museum organizations wishing to survey the talents and skills on their boards.
— Lynn Homeier Rauch, vice president, Board of Trustees and chair of Governance and Board Development Committee, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD
The Museum Trustee Association templates are a conversation starter for any Board looking to transform or grow its governance process. The series balances best practice standards with customizable content to address the needs of museums of all sizes. As a new Executive Director I used the templates as a self-guidance tool to set priorities for my first year. They served as a catalyst for dialogue with my Board about how to most effectively implement mission and vision.
— Annette LeZotte, former executive director, Kauffman Museum
Heading into an executive search can be daunting, but the Executive Transitions template beautifully outlines the process and was a terrific tool for our search committee. Although we used a professional consultant, the committee was prepared for the process and shared a common understanding and language after reading the materials. It certainly leveraged our effectiveness. I’ve shared the template with several other organizations of various sizes within and outside the museum community and everyone has found it extremely helpful. Thank you!
— Ellen Bernard, former chair of the Search Committee, Walters Art Museum and current chair of the Board