LHC Member Survey Summary and Constituent Profile

Plan and Purpose:

What we did-

As one important facet of LHCs strategic planning this year, the Board and Staff worked with consultant Leni Preston of Preston & Associates, to draft a survey for our members and constituents. In February 2006 an invitation to participate in the survey was e-mailed to some 300 individuals for a web-based response through surveymonkey.com. A direct link to the survey instrument was made available on www.lowerhudsonconference.org, and hard copy survey forms were mailed to the small number of members for whom we had no e-mail addresses, or who requested the fill-in, paper format.

Who responded-

125 electronic responses were recorded on surveymonkey.com, which included responses from 5 hard copy surveys received at LHC and then entered on line. Thats a return of better than 41%, so we are confident in the value of our data, and the detailed profile it allows us to draw of LHCs constituents, members, regional reach, services and challenges in the field.

Definition-

You have defined yourselves and your place in the museum and history field, and you have helped define the challenges ahead for your organizations, for your professional development and for LHCs professional growth. This survey allows us to report back to you and to the field in qualitative quotes as well as useful quantitative data. We think the museums and historical agencies of the Hudson Valley and greater metro New York area, along with their staff and boards, will be recognized as a formidable microcosm of the field in this 100^th anniversary year of museums, as celebrated by the American Association of Museums.

Challenges to LHC -

You want LHC to be the catalyst that offers direct help and brings history,

museum and library personnel together to learn from each other as well as

from experts who demonstrate standards of the field.

You want LHC to facilitate conversation among all those in the field.

You want LHC to provide continuing leadership in addressing the needs of New Yorks history keepers.

You want LHC to broaden its geographic definition while linking with regional

history groups.

LHC shares a struggle with regional planners and environmentalists: an unceasing fight to de-isolate the fiefdoms and balkanized districts and foster cooperation, information sharing, learning that builds on others experience and sees the utility of professional training and joined forces to address the stewardship and teaching of our past. member survey respondent.

Lower Hudson Conference Member Profile-

Who are LHCs individual members? What is their relationship to the history & museum field?

Individuals responding to the survey were encouraged to select any/all titles that best described their relationship to history organizations, sites, museums or libraries from among these: Staff person; Active or Former Board member, Volunteer (unpaid), Independent Consultant/ Contractor; or Other. We recognize multiple crossovers, in that Board members are, in effect, Volunteers; Staff might be paid or unpaid, etc.

56% of respondents identified as Staff;

34% as Active Board members (24%) or Former Board members of organizations(10%)

22% as Volunteers (unpaid staff)

19% as present or former LHC trustees

15% as Independent Consultants

14% as Other, including arts administrators, funder, state government agency staff, filmmaker university or graduate program personnel, park manager ,& retired.

Staff persons:

Looking closer, among those who identify themselves as staff persons: Nearly half of member staff persons are Directors (77% female; 23% male) 37% of whom have been in the field 11-20 years, while 23% have been in the field 6-10 years. Among the group of Directors, it is interesting to note that 26% guide budgets of $100-249,000, while 23% of them guide the largest organizational budgets of over $ 1 million. Only 7% of this group direct the smallest organizations, where many hats are the proverbial work attire.

44% are Directors/Exec. Directors/Site Mgrs

15% are Curators/Collection Mgrs/Registrars

13% are Librarians or Archivists

11% are Trustee Committee Chairperson

6% are Educator or Director of Education

5% are Development Director/ PR Coord.

5% are Historians (govt. or academic)

Board Members (Active (24%) and Former (10%))

34% of our surveys respondents are active or former Board Members of history, museum or library/archival institutions. Of this group, we acknowledge that Board Members fill the role of unpaid staff in the smallest institutions. In fact, 54% of the Board Member respondents are responsible for organizations with operating budgets of less than $50,000!

42% of Active Board Members responding have worked in the field between 6-10 years; 27% for 11-20 years; 11% for than 30 years; and 8% less than 5 yearswhereas, not surprisingly, 36% of Former Board members of history and museum organizations in our membership have been in the field more than 30 years, and 18% of them have been in each of the other categories. 55% of responding trustees are on boards of Historical Societies; 51% self-identified as History Museums; 34.5% are on boards of Libraries or Archives. While our overall survey respondents were 72% Female and 28% Male, it is interesting to note that among active and former board members, the ratio changes to 60% Female and 40% Male. (The latter proportion holds for only one other group of individuals surveyed: those who work in Historic House Museums). The gender gap is closest in respondents representing organizations with the smallest budgets (under $50,000), where 54% are female and 46% male.

46% of individuals from the smallest organizations have worked in the field 6-10 years. These organizations are a springboard for developing professionalism. Board members of these small, all-volunteer organizations clearly benefit from individual LHC membership which connects them directly to the best practices in the field.

And, of course, we are aware that some Board Members of history and museum organizations are also Executive Directors, Library Directors and Municipal Historians, etc., and often serve, as well, as unpaid (volunteer) staff at other institutions in their communities.

Board Members of LHC (past or present) (19%)

LHC enjoys a strong, supportive underpinning guided by our present board of 22 trustees, but also relies on an extraordinary, continuing network of more than 160 individuals who have been trustees of Lower Hudson Conference since our organizations began in 1979. These trustees thread their work and achievements through the field and the region- remaining valued advocates for responsive, collaborative services, and guides in defining our leadership role in supporting the continuum of history & stewardship in 21^st century communities.

Independent Consultants/ Contractors: (15%)

LHCs individual/ Professional Consultant members have identified themselves by the areas of expertise in which they work with historical agencies and museums:

34% are historians/ art or cultural historians/ lecturers, researchers or appraisers

21% are conservation professionals

17% are curatorial or interpretation consultants

13% consult in the areas of governance or staff development

13% are independent architects, landscape, graphic or web designers, or filmmakers

4% are consultants in development, fundraising or grants writing

As a group, 30% of responding independent consultants have been in the field 6-10 years; 26% for 11-20 years, 20% for 20-30 years, 16% for more than 30 years, and not surprisingly only 7% of independent consultants responding have been in the field less than 5 years.

How long have LHC members been in the field?

LHC individual members are mid-career professionals.

30% 6-10 years

26% 11-20 years

20% 20-30 years

16% more than 30 years

7% less than 5 years

Giving Voice to the Next Generation:

LHC is determined to connect with and give voice to the newest members of the museum and history community- those directly out of graduate training, or entering museum work from other professions such as teaching, marketing or community involvement. We plan to do this by initiating collaborations with colleges and museum studies programs, through electronic discussion forums and by creating new affiliate groups much like the Hudson Valley Museum Educators Roundtable.

What Kinds of Organizations Belong to LHC?

LHCs organizational members are overwhelmingly history organizations: museums, historical societies, historic sites and historic house museums, self-described (all that apply) as follows:

31% History Museum

28% Library or Archive

26% Historical Society

25% Historic House Museum

21% Other: artists club, arts council, cemetery, conservation lab, farm, film company, gallery, government archive, graduate school, religious landmark institution, school district archives, science museum, state agency, state historic site, state park, theatre, zoo,

11% Specialty Museum

9% Art Museum

8% Preservation Organization

7% Hudson Valley Regional Organization

LHC member and constituent organizations are found throughout the entire Hudson Valley and greater metropolitan New York region:

Organizational members of Lower Hudson Conference are found in 20 counties of the Hudson Valley and greater metro New York, reaching from Staten Island and Long Island, north to the capitol district; embracing the entire Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, & enhancing historic communities well beyond the river, from the Catskills eastward to Connecticut.

Theres nothing merely lower about Lower Hudson Conference organizations- and there never really was. If anything, LHC has come to represent a greater regional constituency as a network defined by common work and mission that drive shared values of preservation, education and interpretation for public audiences.

Heres a geographic profile of these cultural heritage organizations, by county:

20% Westchester

12% Orange

10% Dutchess

10% Ulster

10% New York (Manhattan)

7% Rockland

5% Putnam

4% Columbia

4% Nassau

4% Bronx

2% Albany

2% Kings (Brooklyn)

2% Connecticut

1% Greene

1% Sullivan

1% Rensselaer

1% Richmond (Staten Island)

1% Suffolk

1% Other NYS: Erie

1% Other NYS: Otsego

Geographic Profile of Historic Sites Responding:

28% Dutchess

18% Westchester

11% Rockland

11% NYC (Manhattan. Brooklyn, Bronx)

7% Ulster

7% Putnam

7% Columbia

4% Orange

Geographic Profile of Historic House Museums Responding:

Note: 19% NYC = 7% Manhattan; 7% Brooklyn; 5% Bronx. (see graph)

Organizational Operating Budgets:

LHC organizations represent the full gamut of budget sizes, and are, in fact, as evenly distributed according to operating budget as American museums, generally . (National museum budget figures from AAMs Museum News, May/June 2006; www.aam-us.org )

36.3% of respondents have operating budgets of $0 - $99,000

26.5% Under $50,000 (all-volunteer)

9.8% $50 - $99,000

33.3% have operating budgets of $100 - $499,000 LHC: 56% Under 200,000

20.6% $100 - $249,000 *AAM: 44% Under $200,000

12.7% $250 - $499,000 *AAM: 24% $200 - $499,000

30.4% have operating budgets of $500 - $1 million +LHC: 10.8% $500 - $999,000

19.6% $1 million + *AAM: 10% $500 - $999,000

10.8% $500 - $999,000 LHC: 19.6% $1 mil +

*AAM: 19% $1mil - $9 mil

Your view of LHCs Work:

The top choices, among all that apply-

84% of respondents view LHC as a provider of professional services

42% as a regional networking organization

40% as an advocate for history and museums

And your impression of LHC today? We are buoyed by your tremendous response:

47% Very Positive

42% Positive

10% Neutral

.8% Negative (1)

0% Very Negative

LHC Membership Offers Participation and Peer Interaction:

LHC members are active participants in their own professional development, engaging in programs individually, on behalf of museums, and through dialogue with LHC staff and colleagues in the field. Heres how you account for your impression of our organization:

73% Based on Participation in a Program, Meeting, or Workshop

71% Based on Personal Interaction with LHC Staff

39% Based on Professional Publications

23% Based on Personal Interaction with LHC Board Members

18% Based on Word of Mouth

10% Based on other: Networking over the phone, What our volunteers tell us who interact with you; at your annual meeting; I have always received assistance and support.

Hands-on training and person-to-person connection also weighed heavily in your top reasons for joining LHC as members:

66% joined because of workshops and professional development programs

52% joined for networking in the field

33% joined for access to consultant services and recommendations.

The Word: How Constituents Receive Information About LHC and its Programs:

85% from mailings, including the LHC Newsletter

75% from e-mailings

24% from the LHC website: www.lowerhudsonconference.org

22% from colleagues in your organization, in the field or in the community

6% from other sources.

Although the LHC Newsletter is published quarterly both in print and on-line on our website, you overwhelmingly prefer to read the printed/mailed version over the web version (which actually contains more, expanded information and classified listings) by 5-to-1.

The majority of respondents would prefer to receive the newsletter, announcements and resource information by e-mail, or in multiple (print and e-mail) formats. While the cost of printing and mailing 1000 eight-to-twelve page newsletters quarterly is a financial challenge, we do plan increased and expanded electronic communications with constituents and as a benefit of membership.

Your Review of LHCs Programs and Services to date:

I. Handling History:

Excellent- an ideal model plus great workshop setup; Great Hands-On Training!; Useful, practical information; very strong presentation; LHCs workshops provided me with most of my basic museum studies training; a wonderful introduction to a topic I knew little about.-anonymous respondents.

29% of overall survey respondents weighed-in on their evaluation of Handling History programs. Of these, over 94% were pro, with 2 negative comments (5%) concerning inconvenience of location and ambivalence about a particular workshop speaker.

LHC Handling History workshops were created in 1994, and have been recognized through important grant support from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the National Park Service (NPS) and the New York State Library Conservation/Preservation program. These are hands-on programs for mid-level professionals. Most museum and history organization staff who find themselves responsible for collections and buildings in historic communities have expertisebut not necessarily in the particular area of art, history or culture they now steward. A changing faculty of professional curators, conservators, educators and experts demonstrate handling practices that reflect current standards of the field, at host sites where particular collections, exhibits and even storage areas provide a working stage for tackling physical and policy issues for history holdings.

II. Technical Assistance: provides direct, responsive help to you, either on-site or off-site. LHCs TA visit was a good wake-up call that moved us into the strategic and long range planning process; Excellent staff input; great suggestions which we took!

Technical Assistance makes a difference to organizations, according to active board members of organizations responding who engaged with LHC and benefited from it. (53% of board members surveyed represent organizations with budgets of under $50,000.)

65% responded they had engaged LHC TA on site;

34% had TA off-site: at LHCs office, via e-mail, or over the phone

The majority of my experience with using LHCs services comes in the form of telephone conversations with staff. I have found the staff to be approachable and knowledgeable with my inquiries; Very Useful; provided guidance and support to help a small museum within a larger organization focus attention on the collection; (LHC) spent the day and provided a detailed report for our organizations consideration.

LHC members make good use of a variety of Technical Assistance formats that respond to their needs, including site visits, assessments, policy reviews, facilitated board discussion, meeting with staff and volunteers, evaluation of collections, preservation & archival practices, consultant recommendations or providing grants information, planning or design resources.

96% reported a positive experience with technical assistance; one respondent (4%) was neutral about an experience with a consultant LHC recommended for TA.

III. Annual Meeting & Awards Towards Excellence:

LHCs October Annual Meeting is seen by members as a great networking opportunity. The networking is great; The program includes enough information to keep it stimulating, and the socializing with colleagues is enjoyable.

94% surveyed were pro, commenting: always interesting; always encouraging, inspiring; always useful; affordable; dynamic and engaging and very well-organized; a great networking and recognition event. 5% suggested that we beef up the content, shorten the awards presentation portion (or otherwise eliminate the boredom quotient) and enlarge the audience so that more people from more organizations will hear the excellent speakers.

This year the October 6, 2006 Annual Meeting, Keeping History on the Right Track, will be held at the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in Goshen, New York (Orange County). Adjacent to Goshens Historic Track, the outstanding, accredited and award-winning LHC member museum is full of surprises and offers meeting participants examples of model interpretation, traveling exhibitions and collections care. Tours of the museum will be offered at the close of the awards portion of the program. (see www.lowerhudsonconference.org ).

IV. Documentary Heritage Program: Archival beginnings for history repositories. Helpful to put first project steps into perspective; validating our system, while suggesting incremental improvements; absolutely needed.

14% of survey respondents commented on Hudson Valley DHP services, having benefited from workshops, site visits and all manner of archival assistance coordinated by Dianne Macpherson with regional archivist Erica Blumenfeld. Specific workshops sited took place in Brewster, Kingston, Ellenville, New Paltz, Newburgh and New City. One respondent complained that there was no convenient location offered (and probably had not requested a free site visit); all others held a pro view of the DHP services that LHC administers for the New York State Archives.

LHCs Hudson Valley Documentary Heritage Program serves history keepers & repositories of all kinds (libraries, historical societies, government historians and records offices, archives and museums) in eight counties: Ulster, Sullivan, Rockland, Putnam, Orange, Greene, Dutchess and Columbia. (Due to founding state legislation, Westchester County repositories are served by METROs DHP in New York City.)

V. Museum Educators Roundtable: Informal exchanges since 2002.

A Great Model; I was amazed to see the interest among this branch of the profession.

My favorite workshops are the museum educator workshops- everyone seems so up-beat, the information is great and the networking super!

Museum educators cited as outstanding programs those on One Room School Houses, the NYS Social Studies Curriculum Standards, Good Guides, and The American Revolution in the Hudson Valley. Finding Hudson Valley Museum Educators Roundtables very useful; informative and helpful for networking; and a very positive experience. The roundtables were assessed to be a great model. LHCs HVMER participants have come from as far away as Syracuse, New Jersey and Connecticut. To date LHC has engaged over 60 individual museum educators in roundtable programs and in a separate detailed survey, that soundly recognized and acknowledged the wide range of expertise and educational backgrounds in this group of self-motivated young professionals among their museum historic site colleagues.

VI. Stone Strategies: Documentation and Conservation of Historic Cemeteries. I refer to the materials and information frequently and recommend this workshop whenever possible. I am waiting to take the next one offered. The workshop was very good, and I used the skills I learned.

In 2003 LHC created and has since presented a series of full-day field workshops called Stone Strategies at partner community sites around the state: in Newburgh (Orange Co.), Brewster (Putnam Co.), East Fishkill/Hopewell Junction (Dutchess Co.), Churchtown (Columbia Co.), Troy/Lansingburg (Rensselaer Co.) and upstate in Morrisonville (Madison Co.) and Potsdam (St. Lawrence Co.). Stone Strategies programs are co-sponsored by member organizations, by historians and historical societies, but also co-sponsored by local county and community preservation commissions, bicentennial commissions, and historic religious institutions, with support as well from foundations such as the Fund for Columbia County of the Berkshire-Taconic Community Foundation.

LHCs DHP archivists offer presentations on legal issues and access to cemetery records; local historians give case studies on their work in neighboring historic cemetery projects, and Conservator C.R. Jones of the New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown, presents a visual lecture, identifies materials and styles, and takes the workshop participants (a group of 3550) on afternoon cemetery walk-throughs during which hands-on demonstrations of cleaning, repairing, identification techniques and conservation strategizing take place.

VII. Conservation Treatment Grant Program: A statewide program LHC administers for the Museum Program of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). a formidable presence among your services for collecting institutions; a vital program; an accessible grant program; The grants we received were extremely helpful in raising grants and gifts from private sources. Additional information about the Conservation Treatment Grant Program, guidelines, application form and lists of past grants (2000-2005) can be found on the LHC website: www.lowerhudsonconference.org. A professional evaluation of this five year old grant program is being completed this year, and will be reported to LHCs membership and to the state at the LHC Annual Meeting, October 6, 2006.

Programs and Collaborations you would participate in: (top choices)

61% Collections Management (e.g. access, care & handling, emergency preparedness,)

55% Community Heritage Projects (e.g. cemetery workshops; street signage)

49% Site Matters (e.g. facilities, landscape and building preservation/maintenance)

46% Exhibit Design and Fabrication

46% Hudson Valley Regional Programs

42% Advertising/PR/Marketing (including tourism and community relations)

40% Educational Collaboration (e.g. teacher training, exchange or materials development)

33% Thematic Research & Interpretation

27% Professional Mentorships

25% Internet Programming and Services

17% Advocacy Projects (including collaborative ads)

Looking by organizational budget size, here are the programs and services of top priority to LHC organizational members:

Budget $0-$50,000

I. Collections Management

II. Advertising/PR/Marketing

III. Community Heritage Programs

IV. Exhibition Design & Fabrication

Budget $50-$99,000

I. Collections Management

II. Community Heritage Programs

III. Site Matters / Educational Collaboration

IV. Hudson Valley Regional Programs / Thematic Research & Interpretation

Budget $100-$249,000

I. Community Heritage Programs

II. Collections Management

III. Site Matters

IV. Advertising/PR/Marketing

Budget $250-$499,000

I. Site Matters

II. Community Heritage Programs

III. Collections Management

IV. Exhibition Design & Fabrication

Budget $500-$999,000

I. Collections Management

II. Exhibition Design & Fabrication

III. Hudson Valley Regional Programs

IV. Site Matters

Budget $1 million +

I. Exhibition Design & Fabrication

II. Collections Management

III. Educational Collaboration

IV. Hudson Valley Regional Programs

I think that professional development meetings and workshops are key to the success of a service organization. survey respondent. Other programs, services, collaborations or partnerships you would like LHC to provide include:

Programs on financial administration, legal, accounting and insurance topics; fund-raising and grants management; how to formulate a comprehensive game plan

Board training for leadership; On-site Board education programs; advocacy

Collaborative efforts among libraries and historical societies who often have complementary collections, but different ways of handling them.

Collaboration with NYS Historical Records Advisory Board and the Commissioners Advisory Council of Local Historians; Training for municipal historians

County-wide collaborations for physical & virtual collections access.

Informal Exchanges; Brown-Bag lunches with well-defined topics

The Greatest Challenges facing your organizations today:

27% Private Funding

21% Care and Management of Collections

19% Public Funding

11% Need for Trained Personnel

8% Creating Awareness of programs in the community

7% Need for Facilities/ Space

4% Preservation of Historic Buildings

2% Access to collections & facilities

Emergency Preparedness

Competition for Audience

1% Updating Technology

Greatest Challenge Second Greatest Challenge

I. Need for Facilities/Space I. Care and Management of Collections

II. Public (Gov.) Funding II. Creating Community Awareness

III. Need for Trained Personnel III. Preservation of Historic Buildings

IV. Private Funding IV.Updating Technology

Not only is our museum pressed for space, but there is also a critical need for proper maintenance and funding for repairs and updates to current buildings.

Other challenges faced by your organizations: You report challenges in the areas of Public Relations and Audience/Community Awareness; in

Long-Range Planning for sustainability; Getting out the story; Teaching the public, and especially children, that culture is important; the interpretation of history; Affordable services for small NYC organizations; Integrating technology with our present work is a challenge; how do we evaluate accuracy and reliability of what is available? Awareness by the general public of the importance to preserve our historical objects.

Greatest Challenges you perceive to be facing LHC today:

27% Sustainable funding support

22% Awareness of programs & services

12% Ability to create & project a distinct Identity

9% Participation by traditional constituents AND new audiences

8% Location of programs

5% Updating communications technology ; Need for administrative

& program space; Fundraising & membership development

2% Staffing & Leadership

Respondents cited the challenge of integrating all facets of the history community; furthering professional connectivity; making progress in enhancing cultural values through education preservation & interpretation; and building awareness of the work of the field among public audiences.

We would like your feedback on our survey summary, and will incorporate your continuing comments and suggestions into the final draft of our strategic plan, which we expect to debut at the LHC annual meeting October 6, 2006.

Thanks to all the individuals who took the member survey, and for your very thoughtful responses.

Tema Harnik

Executive Director

Lower Hudson Conference
2199 Saw Mill River Road
Elmsford, NY 10523
914-592-6726
lowerhudson@msn.com
www.lowerhudsonconference.org