Running a Society
Running an historical society requires forward planning and good governance along with the skills in running a small business.
Key challenges faced by historical societies and the impact of digital technologies can be addressed by strategic planning involving members and other interested parties.
In addition succession planning enables societies to survive and thrive into the future and is a critical component of a robust sustainability framework.
Indigenous Roadmap
The Australian Museums and Galleries Association 10-Year Indigenous Roadmap is committed to improving Indigenous engagement and employment. The Roadmap was developed for the museums and galleries sector, in consultation with the sector. In order for the Roadmap to be successful, the entire sector needs to take it up. The Roadmap is for the museums and galleries sector and all those that interact with it.
Strategic Planning
A Strategic Planning Manual is published by Museums Australia. Jennifer Colbert sets out a planning process that is valuable for historical societies to help in reviewing operational activities. It outlines a number of steps from Situation analysis – Where are we now to: Goal analysis – Where do we want to be, and Strategy analysis – How will we get there.
Succession Planning
The FAHS Succession Planning Guide and Workbook are designed to assist historical societies and heritage groups to survive and thrive into the future.
The Workbook takes readers through seven steps to develop a plan for identifying future needs for succession and developing potential successors for an organisation.
The Introductory Guide and Workbook can be accessed as a complete document or
as separate documents. Each step and workbook template can also be individually
accessed as required during the planning process.
Disaster Planning and Recovery
All historical societies should consider how to protect their collections, buildings and people, and draw up a disaster plan which is appropriate to their particular circumstances.
Local Government Partnership
Local history is Australia’s cultural heritage; an asset that is valuable in many ways.
Maximising its value to the community requires a strong partnership between local government and history societies. Those local councils which effectively support their community history groups enjoy the benefits, as does the community as a whole.
The above are only starting points. Your own keyword searches will assist, or contact FAHS.