Aim gazeteer 2012

AIM Research Study:
Gazetteer of Advice for
Museum Entrepreneurs

October 2012

Jon Finch
Black Radley Culture Ltd

jon_finch@blackradley.com
www.blackradley.com

Tel: 0845-226-0363
Fax: 01694-722040

AIM Resilience Research October 2012

Table of Contents

1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 3
2 Sources of Advice ............................................................................................ 5
2.1 Collections Link website ......................................................................... 5
2.2 Cultivate Website and Resources............................................................ 7
2.3 Directory of Social Change ..................................................................... 9
2.4 GOV.UK Website ................................................................................. 11
2.5 HM Revenue & Customs ...................................................................... 13
2.6 Institute of Fundraising ....................................................................... 15
2.7 Making Adaptive Resilience Real........................................................... 17
2.8 Mission, Models, Money ....................................................................... 19
2.9 North East England – Tourism Business Toolkit ..................................... 22
2.10 Risk Awareness Profiling Tool............................................................... 24
2.11 Share Museums East ........................................................................... 26
2.12 South West Federation of Museums and Art Galleries Website ............... 28
2.13 South West Tourism Alliance – Advice for Business Start ups ................. 31
2.14 Voluntary Arts Website and Resources.................................................. 33
2.15 Volunteering England .......................................................................... 35
Appendix 1 – Other Sources considered in the Review ................................... 37
Appendix 2 – Relevant Online forums............................................................ 38
Appendix 3 – Source Data ............................................................................ 39

© Black Radley Ltd 2012 2 Tel: 0845-226-0363


1 Introduction

During September and October 2012 Black Radley Culture was commissioned to
identify and evaluate sources of advice for organisational effectiveness and
entrepreneurial effectiveness available to the independent museums sector. Our
analysis has revealed a range of potential sources of guidance, although the majority
were not specifically concentrating on resilience and enterprise, often providing
more wide ranging business advice.

The sources we considered include a number created specifically for the museums
sector (e.g. the South West Federation of Museums and Art Galleries Website and
Share Museums East), for the wider Cultural Sector (e.g. Mission, Models, Money and
the Cultivate website) and those providing generic business support (e.g. Business
Link, various government department websites). Our investigation has also led us to
consider a much wider spectrum of websites and resources (such as Arts and
Business and a variety of museum agency websites) which, whilst not necessarily
directly relevant to this review, demonstrate the broader support that is available to
the cultural sector.

This broad support includes well known opportunities for the sector, such as the
Museum Development resource, and the range of projects and programmes
delivered under this banner, as well as the advisers employed by ACE to support the
Accreditation process. It also includes agencies such as Arts and Business, as well as
a host of individuals and organisations with particular experience and expertise in
this area, often operating in a freelance or consultancy capacity (although naturally
such support will come at a cost in most instances). Our work also threw up other
opportunities that might not be so well known to the sector, such as the support
provided for tourism business by many local authorities and destination management
organisations.

Our research has demonstrated what many of the people we talked to as part of our
investigations already suspected, that the relevance and value of the current advice
sources is often patchy. This is not to say that the quality of content or the manner in
which they have been produced is poor, just that the focus on resilience and
enterprise is often limited or that the resources we look at were not necessarily
produced to provide guidance for the museums sector.

It should be acknowledged that the context in which museums and businesses are
operating is continuing to change rapidly. It is clearly becoming increasingly difficult
to ensure that any source of advice continues to stay relevant.



Our findings, the feedback we have received and our experience of working with
business across a range of sectors, demonstrates that the current sources of
guidance should not be used in isolation. Any concerted attempt by an organisation
or individual to consider issues around resilience and enterprise should consider the
four, overlapping areas referred to below:

- A mentoring process;
- Peer to peer engagement;
- Bespoke support provided by an individual or organisation with expertise;
- A specific programme of work focusing on resilience or enterprise (e.g.
London’s Survive and Thrive).

Black Radley Culture believes that the sources of advice evaluated in this document
are best used supporting such a wider process of development. In practice we have
also discovered that many people find on-going membership of the various online
forums which are available as, or more, useful than static websites or hard copy
sources. We have therefore provided a very brief summary of a number of the
opportunities in this area in Appendix 2.

Following consultation with a range of individuals across the sector, and after our
own analysis, we have concentrated on those sources which we feel either
specifically look to provide guidance around resilience or enterprise, or by their
nature and content provide information of relevance to the sector. This has limited
the evaluation to a relatively small number of websites and publications.

All the sources we have analysed are of value to the sector and provide a range of
useful guidance. As you can see we have provided brief summaries for each along
with an assessment of usability, focus and sector relevance. To emphasise again,
these assessments do not necessarily reflect the quality of the resources, but more
Black Radley Culture’s view of the relevance and provision in relation to resilience
and entrepreneurial effectiveness for this sector.

We have also provided a simple guide to the level of information available in the
sources for each of the standard business advice areas (score of 3 = high level of
information, 2 = some information is provided, 1 = little or no information is
provided). The same approach has also been adopted for a number of museum
specific areas.



2 Sources of Advice

2.1 Collections Link website
Type of Resource: Described as the Collections Trust intelligence hub
(http://www.collectionslink.org.uk/). Web based facility designed to support
professional collaboration, skills exchange and development.

There is a registration option which is free, however it takes a long time to be
admitted. There is also the option to become a Collections Trust partner. The
Collections Trust Partner Scheme promotes the leading suppliers of products,
services and expertise in collections care and management to the museums, libraries
and archives sector.

Content summary: There are sections on social collaboration where the user can
create their profile, there are also guidance and factsheets sections where the user
can browse by subject or browse by practice and a programmes section including;
accreditation, Heritage Lottery Fund, benchmarks in collections care, events ,
supplier listing and a link to the Collections Trust flagship event Culture2013.
Culture2013 identifies how those in the collections community can be right at the
heart of their organisation, proactively supporting positive change.

There is a shop selling publications on collections care.

Focus: Some resources on resilience including a sustainable environmental
management blog and articles.

Sector Relevance: Very relevant to the sector on the specific subject of collections
care.

Usability: Easy to use site with good drop down menus and high profile search
function.

Further support available: Links to suppliers in categories of building management,
consultancy services, digital services, exhibition services, preservation equipment and
systems and software.

Effectiveness/Views of Customers: Very comprehensive resources on collection care.

Other comments:


Collections Link
Finance
Funding
Business Planning
Finance Systems, Tax and Payroll

0 1 2 3 4

People

HR
Training
Volunteering

0 1 2 3 4

Infrastructure
Environment
Premises and Health and Safety
IT and Ecommerce

0 1 2 3 4

Product
Sales and Marketing
Growing your business
Creation and Innovation

0 1 2 3 4

Museum Speciﬁc Advice

Governance
Accreditation
Collections Management
Learning and education
Evaluation and benchmarking

0 1 2 3 4

6


2.2 Cultivate Website and Resources
Type of Resource: Cultivate is an East Midlands based consultancy organisation
focusing on the cultural sector. Its website contains a range of advice and links to
other resources (http://www.cultivate-em.com/).

Content summary: The site is headlined as “Supporting arts organisations and
audience development across the region”. The site explicitly focuses on resilience as
one of its key priorities, and deals with four main areas; organisational development,
leadership and skills development, philanthropy and fundraising, and audience
development. It contains a range of resources created by Cultivate and specifically
targeted at organisations in the cultural sector. The website also outlines a series of
products and services relating to enterprise and resilience which can be purchased
from the consultancy including philanthropy and fundraising training. Some of the
products are subsidised.

Focus: The guidance available includes focused business planning advice. These
include two page summaries, each focusing on particular aspects of the planning
process. The other free available resources on the site focus on organisational
development, governance and fundraising. Resources provide guidance on a range
of other topics and there are some useful case studies, several using museums.

Sector Relevance: The resources are explicitly targeted at the broader cultural sector,
there is undoubtedly a focus on the arts sector, however some of the case studies
and other resources come directly from the museums sector.

Usability: The site is well structured and signposted allowing the user to navigate
around the site with relative ease. The business planning advice for example is
focused and targeted. Each summary focuses on a particular aspect, the language is
business like, and clearly structured. The case studies are also well written outlining
key points to consider and why the case study is relevant.

Further support available: There are a range of case studies and PDFs available, as
well as consultancy services which naturally need to be paid for in some form,
although some are subsidised.

Effectiveness/Views of Customers:

Other comments: Good quality products from Cultivate, all designed specifically for
the cultural sector, using business like language in an accessible manner.


Cultivate
Finance
Funding
Business Planning

0 1 2 3 4

People

HR
Training
Volunteering

0 1 2 3 4

Infrastructure
Environment
IT and Ecommerce

0 1 2 3 4

Product
Sales and Marketing

0 1 2 3 4


Governance
Accreditation

0 1 2 3 4

8


2.3 Directory of Social Change
Type of Resource: The website (http://www.dsc.org.uk/Home) has a range of
resources relating to the charities sector. The home page is very busy comprising, a
mixture of events, news and support.

Registration is free and enables access to a range of downloadable resources some
free and some for sale. There is an option to subscribe to DSC e-news.

Content summary: There is a range of publication for sale, a conference listing, a
menu of training courses including: finance, fundraising techniques, human
resources, information and communication, law, management and governance,
personal development and sector, policy and campaigns.

There is an area on the site providing information on coaching.

Focus: No relevance to resilience apart from fundraising advice and some of the
training courses.

Sector Relevance: Little relevance to the sector generally. Using museums in the
search function showed only one result on membership or friends schemes.

Good link to subscription sites on how to improve fundraising. No actual advice on
running a museum.

Usability: Busy site with too much information per page but a good search function
by category and A to Z of services.

Further support available: Website offers a limited range of services for sale
comprising room hire and training, no consultancy or specific advice offer evident.

Effectiveness/Views of Customers: The user might struggle to find answers to
particular questions. There is an opportunity to submit feedback on the site.

Other comments:


Directory of Social Change
Finance
Funding
Business Planning

0 1 2 3 4

People

HR
Training
Volunteering

0 1 2 3 4

Infrastructure
Environment
IT and Ecommerce

0 1 2 3 4

Product
Sales and Marketing

0 1 2 3 4


Governance
Accreditation

0 1 2 3 4

10


2.4 GOV.UK Website
Type of Resource: The Business Link website is now one of twelve options in the
government information site website (http://www.gov.uk/browse/business) the
business section has sixteen options ranging from generic topics to specific specialist
advice.

Content summary: The website provides a range of advice sources as follows:
Business premises and business rates, Business tax, Expenses and employee benefits,
Farming, Food, catering and retail, Funding and debt, Imports and exports, Licences
and licence applications, Manufacturing, Maritime vessels and work at sea, Running a
limited company, Sale of goods and services and data protection, Selling your
business and closing down, Setting up, Trademarks, copyright and intellectual
property and Waste and environmental impact.

Focus: The topic links take the user to further menu choices drilling down into the
issue. There is little specifically on resilience. The core topics of running a business
are all covered with a mix of in depth guidance and ‘quick guides’.

Sector Relevance: The search function “museums” showed a number of brief generic
articles primarily above import and export of goods in the creative industries sector.
No actual advice on running a museum.

Usability: Website well laid-out and easy to use and even with the wide range of
topics. Many links take the user to pages within another of the main twelve sections
which feels not very useful. The site appears very self-contained and almost hard to
escape from although on a few pages there are links to external sites such as
Department for Business Innovation and Skills, HM revenue and Customs and UK
Trade International.

Further support available: None

Effectiveness/Views of Customers: There is no opportunity to rate or comment on
the resources or advice available on the website.

Other comments:


.gov.uk
Finance
Funding
Business Planning

0 1 2 3 4

People

HR
Training
Volunteering

0 1 2 3 4

Infrastructure
Environment
IT and Ecommerce

0 1 2 3 4

Product
Sales and Marketing

0 1 2 3 4


Governance
Accreditation

0 1 2 3 4

12


2.5 HM Revenue & Customs
Type of Resource: The website (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/) has a wide range of
resources accessed by way of menu, including on screen advice and document
downloads. There are links to other government sites such as Business Link,
Companies House and National Careers.

Content summary: The website provides a menu of resources relating to tax affairs
of running a business. Main topics: Registration with HMRC, Corporation Tax, VAT,
Import and export.

Focus: The menu links take the user to further menu choices drilling down into the
issue. There is little specific reference to resilience.

Sector Relevance: The website allows the user to input the business sector
(Museums and gallery operation) and location and identify the licences and permits
that might be required to operate such a business.

Using museums in the search function showed a lot of sector specific advice about
VAT treatments for charities and useful list of business activities which may be
carried out by a museum. There is no actual advice on running a museum.

Usability: Website is well-laid out and easy to use but a number of menus use quite
technical language so the user would need to be familiar with the subject to make
progress.

Further support available: There is a telephone helpline and email enquiry function
for charities.

Effectiveness/Views of Customers: There is no opportunity to rate or comment on
the resources or advice available on the website.

Other comments:


HMRC
Finance
Funding
Business Planning

0 1 2 3 4

People

HR
Training
Volunteering

0 1 2 3 4

Infrastructure
Environment
IT and Ecommerce

0 1 2 3 4

Product
Sales and Marketing

0 1 2 3 4


Governance
Accreditation

0 1 2 3 4

14


2.6 Institute of Fundraising
Type of Resource: The website (http://www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk/home/)
has a comprehensive range of resources relating to fundraising.

Membership is at an individual or organisational level although most of the content
was free to non-members.

Content summary: There is a membership section, events and training listing,
comprehensive online fundraising guidance including short videos, webinars and
news and jobs sections. There is also a good research section with some very recent
data on fundraising.

There are a range of fundraising qualifications run by the Institute and associated
training opportunities.

Focus: No specific relevance to resilience apart from fundraising advice and some of
the research publications.

Sector Relevance: Given the clear focus on fundraising would be a useful resource for
museums looking for support in this area.

Usability: Easy to use, well laid out site, but three different menu toolbars in
different places so at times difficult to return to a previously accessed page. Search
function in hidden at bottom of the page so not immediately obvious.

Further support available: The site contains a listing of fundraising consultants, find
a supplier function and details of geographic or special interest fundraising groups.
The “find a supplier” database seemed comprehensive.

Effectiveness/Views of Customers: It seems like the user would be able to find
answers to particular questions. There is an opportunity to submit feedback on the
site.

Other comments: Very good specialist resource, it is not targeted at museum sector
but would be useful for fundraising support.


Institute of Fundraising
Finance
Funding
Business Planning

0 1 2 3 4

People

HR
Training
Volunteering

0 1 2 3 4

Infrastructure
Environment
IT and Ecommerce

0 1 2 3 4

Product
Sales and Marketing

0 1 2 3 4


Governance
Accreditation

0 1 2 3 4

16


2.7 Making Adaptive Resilience Real
Type of Resource: ACE publication

Content summary: A substantial document produced by ACE during 2010. The
document is primarily concerned with the potential application of models and
theories to create resilient arts organisations, rather than offering specific advice and
guidance around the subject. It explores methodologies, and contains a strong
intellectual thread

Focus: The publication’s main focus is around “adaptive resilience”, it explains the
theory behind the theory, assesses the applicability to the arts sector, outlines the
potential benefits to the arts sector in adopting the approach, and makes a set of
recommendations. It does this in some detail, and explores the topic of resilience
thoroughly, however it is clearly not designed to provide generic resilience advice.

Sector Relevance: The publication is very focused on the arts sector, it was written
before ACE had formally taken responsibility for the museum and library sectors.
However it was written with the independent arts sector in mind, and much of what
is written could be transferable to the independent museums sector.

Usability: The document is written from quite a personal perspective, by a member
of ACE staff who was just about to leave the organisation. It does include some
strongly argued theories, and follows a traditional academic approach of scoping the
argument, describing and exploring the methodology, discussing applicability and
then providing recommendations. However it does provide models and
recommendations that could certainly be of value to organisations.

Further support available: The publication was written as a one off, and provided
recommendations to the sector and ACE about how to improve resilience, therefore
apart from references to other publications and resources focusing on resilience
(such as Mission, Models and Money) there is no further support.

Effectiveness/Views of Customers: A number of members of the sector and ACE
referred to the publication and the context it provides around resilience.

Other comments: A strongly argued document, which provides a detailed analysis of
the topic of resilience.


Making Adaptive Resilience Real
Finance
Funding
Business Planning

0 1 2 3 4

People

HR
Training
Volunteering

0 1 2 3 4

Infrastructure
Environment
IT and Ecommerce

0 1 2 3 4

Product
Sales and Marketing

0 1 2 3 4


Governance
Accreditation

0 1 2 3 4

18


2.8 Mission, Models, Money
Type of Resource: Web based range of resources, supporting a broader programme
of work (http://www.missionmodelsmoney.org.uk/).

Content summary: MMM is described on the website as a “Passionate network of
thinkers and doers. The website contains a range of resources which are nominally
divided between the main headings of Mission, Models and Money, the focus on
resilience is emphasised regularly. Under each heading there are listings for a variety
of resources including reports, case studies, summaries and advice. On the front
page there are also links to two projects MMM is delivering. Re.volution is a peer
learning network designed to support arts and cultural organisations renew mission,
reconfigure business model and revise approach to money. Re.think is a network
designed to support those working in the cultural sector. There is a mixture of
material created through the various MMM programmes, and links to material
created elsewhere for the cultural sector.

Focus: The content is clearly focused on developing creative resilience, and there are
a range of resources targeted at doing that. The resources focus on a range of
significant issues such as finance and business planning. The material is very wide
ranging, some exploring the theories ad models behind resilience, others offering
more practical advice. Though the specific nature of the resources seems to be
somewhat ad hoc, and more dependent on the range of projects MMM has been
involved with in the past rather than offering a thorough set of advice to users

Sector Relevance: The website, and the language it uses, is focused towards the arts
sector. The approach throughout the resources is highly creative and flexible,
however it is explicitly targeted at small and medium sized institutions, and there is
much included here that it is transferable.

Usability: On first viewing the site is a little overwhelming, and whilst there is an
explicit reference towards resilience, it is not immediately clear where to go to
secure specific information or guidance. However once you have found your way to
the sections focusing on Missions, Models and Money the relatively wide range of
resources are straightforward to identify and use.

Further support available: There are a range of resources to access directly through
the site providing advice and guidance. There are details of a large number of case
studies undertaken through MMM, which museums may find useful. There is also
some signposting to other opportunities and information, as well as networks and
communities of practice.



Effectiveness/Views of Customers: The site does allow users to comment on the
products/resources, there are not a huge number of comments, but those that are
there are positive. Though some of the comments need to be treated with some
caution as they look like the generic comments sent in large numbers to countless
websites. It is also recommended by the Making Adaptive Resilience Real ACE
publication.

Other comments: There are some strong and well written case studies looking at
various aspects of resilience and entrepreneurialism. The site’s approach to dividing
up resources between the areas of Mission, Models and Money is also of value.


MMM
Finance
Funding
Business Planning

0 1 2 3 4

People

HR
Training
Volunteering

0 1 2 3 4

Infrastructure
Environment
IT and Ecommerce

0 1 2 3 4

Product
Sales and Marketing

0 1 2 3 4


Governance
Accreditation

0 1 2 3 4

21


2.9 North East England – Tourism Business Toolkit
Type of Resource: One stop online shop offering web based support to Tourism
organisations (http://www.tourismbusinesstoolkit.co.uk/business-support).

Content summary: The website provides a range of business focussed advice and
guidance for tourist organisations. The site contains a business support section,
alongside areas looking at marketing, research and case studies. The main bulk of
information is situated in the business support section in the form of advice, links,
case studies and guides.

Focus: The guidance is split into a range of sections such as business starts up,
finance and funding and training. Each section contains a summary of advice with a
range of links to external documents and advice sources, including a number to the
Business Link website. They also contain specially designed “How to….Guides” on a
variety of business and resilience related topics. There are case studies attached to
each section in the form of documents and Videos. The site is designed to offer
effective business support the tourism sector, and covers the majority of bases. The
marketing section considers a range of business development and entrepreneurial
effectiveness issues that are less often found in museum focused sites, these include
“Finding Routes to Market” and “Using Social Media”.

Sector Relevance: Whilst the site is clearly targeted at the broader tourism sector,
and those specifically in the North East, much of the advice being given is of
relevance to museums. A number of the case studies are museum based.

Usability: The website is easy to navigate, once the user has registered and gained
access. There is a straightforward structure based on traditional business advice
areas such as finance and training. The site is entirely focused on business support,
and is therefore not cluttered with information relating to other issues. The How
to…Guides are useful, providing bite size chunks of information for the user.

Further support available: As already stated the site is linked to a range of other
resources such as the Business Link website. However the site does not seem to
have been updated for more than a year, and the links to further training event have
no forthcoming opportunities.


Other comments:


NE Tourism Toolkit
Finance
Funding
Business Planning

0 1 2 3 4

People

HR
Training
Volunteering

0 1 2 3 4

Infrastructure
Environment
IT and Ecommerce

0 1 2 3 4

Product
Sales and Marketing

0 1 2 3 4


Governance
Accreditation

0 1 2 3 4

23


2.10 Risk Awareness Profiling Tool
Type of Resource: A web based (http://www.raptonline.org.uk/welcome.asp)
resource focused on risk awareness across museums, libraries and other cultural
institutions

Content summary: The resource, developed in 2010, enables users to undertake a
step by step assessment of the risk awareness at an organisation. It takes the users
through a thorough process focusing on four key areas; Assets, Systems, Finance and
Audience. The user is required to register and answer a range of questions in each
area as part of a directed process. Each question has further context and detail to
inform the user.

Focus: The site is entirely focused on the issue of risk awareness, and takes the user
on a managed exploration of that subject. It covers each of the key areas thoroughly,
and by doing this provides significant detail concerning resilience, and a certain
amount concerning enterprise. Users will certainly be more aware of the broad issue
of risk, and its relationship to resilience, once they have utilised the RAPT tool.

Sector Relevance: The resource has been specifically designed for cultural
organisations, museums and archives in particular. The nature of the questions, and
of the additional information provided, has been done with the cultural sector very
much in mind.

Usability: The user needs to register before using the tool, and therefore you can
only access the questionnaire, and associated information once you have done that.
The user is guided through the tool in a regimented way, although you do have the
opportunity to access the key areas in your preferred order. However this guided
approach does make the tool straightforward to use, and the additional information
provided within each question should provide useful context to even the most
uninitiated.

Further support available: As already mentioned further information is provided at
each stage, at each question posed within the tool. This information includes
material specifically created for the tool, links to other websites and guidance, along
with specific resources.

Effectiveness/Views of Customers: The tool is well used by the museums sector and
relevant agencies.

Other comments: A few areas of the site could do with a little updating (e.g. the
regular references to MLA)


RAPT
Finance
Funding
Business Planning

0 1 2 3 4

People

HR
Training
Volunteering

0 1 2 3 4

Infrastructure
Environment
IT and Ecommerce

0 1 2 3 4

Product
Sales and Marketing

0 1 2 3 4


Governance
Accreditation

0 1 2 3 4

25


2.11 Share Museums East
Type of Resource: The website acts as a gateway to a range of resources including
advice, training programme, marketplace
(http://www.sharemuseumseast.org.uk/default.aspx).

Content summary: The website provides access to resources either produced
specifically by the Share programme, or recommended by it to assist museums in the
East of England. The introduction to the website talks of supporting excellence,
resilience and co-operation in museums in the region. There is a training
programme, resource listing, marketplace, network opportunities amongst others.

Focus: The resources section, where the majority of advice is contained, is split into
three areas; Collections, Learning and Managing your Museum. The information
provided here is a mixture of material specifically produced in the East of England,
and links to a broader set of material produced by MLA, ACE etc. Both the Managing
your Museum and Collections sections provide some advice and guidance linked to
resilience amongst a broader range of resources. However the range of information
is not huge, and the site states that further information and resources will become
available in September 2012.

Sector Relevance: The website, resources and advice are aimed specifically at the
museums sector, and specifically small and medium sized organisations based in the
East of England, though the vast majority of resources are applicable across the
sector.

Usability: Generally, the website is well structured and clearly signposted, though the
user might naturally go to the Managing your Museum section to secure advice
concerning resilience and running an effective business. However this particular
section is somewhat limited currently. The resources section provides access to a
broad range of material and links through a range of museum friendly topics though
this is no attempt to interpret or rationalise the information.

Further support available: The broader Share programme includes access to a wide
range of training, networks, a digital ideas bank etc, which are nominally limited to
museums in the East of England.

Effectiveness/Views of Customers: The site is popular amongst museums in the East
of England.

Other comments:


Share Museums East
Finance
Funding
Business Planning

0 1 2 3 4

People

HR
Training
Volunteering

0 1 2 3 4

Infrastructure
Environment
IT and Ecommerce

0 1 2 3 4

Product
Sales and Marketing

0 1 2 3 4


Governance
Accreditation

0 1 2 3 4

27


2.12 South West Federation of Museums and Art Galleries Website
Type of Resource: The South West Federation website contains a range of web
based resources to assist museums across a number of key areas
(http://www.swfed.org.uk/).

Content Summary: The site contains a broad swathe of advice and guidance for the
sector, a significant amount of which relates to resilience and business development.
The Resources section of the site covers a variety of topics covering areas such as
organisation, collections and people. The Organisation Section is the most relevant
and looks at the themes of governance, management and money. A particular
highlight includes a step by step toolkit designed to assist museums of any size to
develop a robust forward plan. The toolkit takes the user on a guided tour through
the requirements of developing an effective business plan. The vast majority of the
remainder of the site is a reasonably comprehensive set of links to other advice,
guidance and good practice (mainly AIM, MLA publications, with some references to
Business Link)

Focus: The resources are not explicitly targeted towards resilience and enterprise,
however they do cover a number of important topics. The main, unique tool is the
forward planning resource and this has clearly been designed with smaller museums
in mind, as have the links to the other sources, creating a useful and comprehensive
range of guidance.

Sector Relevance: Resources are specifically targeted at those smaller and medium
sized museums in the South West who may struggle to access such support and
guidance elsewhere, however the majority of the resources are appropriate for
museums based anywhere. Therefore the majority of the links are to publications
and resources with museum or cultural grounding, or linked to the charitable sector.

Usability: The site is well signposted and sensibly divided up using clear,
straightforward headings which are easy to navigate. The business related advice is
not difficult to identify. The forward planning resource is well written and very
straightforward to use, taking even the most uninitiated through in an easy to follow
manner.

Further support available: As mentioned previously the site is based on links to
resources created elsewhere rather than being a unique resource in its own right,
and therefore links the user to a wide range of further support. Because this is the
site of a museums federation there is also the opportunity to link easily to a thorough
range of training, networks, and advice.



Effectiveness/Views of Customers: Feedback received whilst undertaking this work
demonstrates that the Forward Planning resource is popular amongst the sector.

Other comments:


South West Federation
Finance
Funding
Business Planning

0 1 2 3 4

People

HR
Training
Volunteering

0 1 2 3 4

Infrastructure
Environment
IT and Ecommerce

0 1 2 3 4

Product
Sales and Marketing

0 1 2 3 4


Governance
Accreditation

0 1 2 3 4

30


2.13 South West Tourism Alliance – Advice for Business Start ups
Type of Resource: Web based advice and guidance for tourism business start-ups in
the South West (http://www.swtourismalliance.org.uk/training-and-quality/tourism-
business-start-ups/).

Content summary: The website provides a range of business focussed advice and
guidance for tourist organisations starting up in the South West. The advice, part of
the wider South West Tourism Alliance website, is divided up into traditional
business support sections such as finance, training and business planning.

Focus: The guidance is targeted at tourism organisations in the early stage of their
existence. The sections are a mixture of links to external sites and resources
alongside some information and guidance created for the website by the South West
Tourism Alliance. The vast majority of the information is provided by external
sources, with a few specific case studies relating to the sector in the region.

Sector Relevance: Whilst the site is clearly targeted at the broader tourism sector,
and those specifically in the South West, much of the advice being given is of
relevance to museums.

Usability: The website is easy to navigate, with a straightforward structure based on
traditional business advice areas such as finance and training. The site is entirely
focused on business support, however compared to other sites, the information
provided is limited.

Further support available: As already stated the site is linked to a range of other
resources such as the Business Link website. However material created specifically
for this site is limited.


Other comments:


South West Tourism Alliance
Finance
Funding
Business Planning

0 1 2 3 4

People

HR
Training
Volunteering

0 1 2 3 4

Infrastructure
Environment
IT and Ecommerce

0 1 2 3 4

Product
Sales and Marketing

0 1 2 3 4


Governance
Accreditation

0 1 2 3 4

32


2.14 Voluntary Arts Website and Resources
Type of Resource: A set of documents, available through the website, each focusing
on an aspect of managing and/or running a voluntary arts organisation
(http://www.voluntaryarts.org/running-your-group/va-briefings/).

Content summary: Voluntary Arts (VA) is the UK and Ireland representative agency
for the voluntary and amateur arts and crafts, a key part of its website is the VA
Briefings section which contains a listing of more than a hundred documents. Each of
the documents focuses on a specific aspect of running or managing an arts
organisation, many of which have strong links to resilience and enterprise. The
themes are provided in a long list on the front page of this section of the website in
chronological order. Access to the documents themselves can only be secured once
the user has registered on the VA website.

Focus: The listing of themes and documents is clearly meant to cover the broad range
of needs and expectations for those individuals considering setting up, or already
running, a voluntary arts organisation. A significant number of these cover issues
with a strong relevance to resilience (such as “Creating a Financial Risk Policy” or
“Crisis Management and Disaster Recovery”) and to entrepreneurialism (such as
“Attracting business sponsors” and “Social Enterprise”).

Sector Relevance: The website and the resources created to support it have been
clearly targeted at voluntary arts organisations, therefore the language is simple and
straightforward, with some focus on the arts. However virtually everything that has
been included on the site has strong relevance to the independent museums sector.

Usability: The site, and the resources it includes, is simple and straightforward to
navigate. The website talks in some detail about the use of the Plain English guide
though out the documents included, and this is reflected in the content of the
guidance. However the titles and themes are not grouped in anyway, simply listed
chronologically requiring the user to search out a particular topic. Clicking on the
links takes the user to a page giving detail concerning the topic and a link to the
document , which can be accessed once you have registered with Voluntary Arts.

Further support available: Voluntary Arts also provide various other resources such
as training, summaries of funding available and a newsletter. There is a subscription
service, where the basic level, which gives you access to the guidance documents and
newsletter, is free. However the other subscription levels involve a charge.


Other comments: Useful and wide ranging set of titles.


Voluntary Arts
Finance
Funding
Business Planning

0 1 2 3 4

People

HR
Training
Volunteering

0 1 2 3 4

Infrastructure
Environment
IT and Ecommerce

0 1 2 3 4

Product
Sales and Marketing

0 1 2 3 4


Governance
Accreditation

0 1 2 3 4

34


2.15 Volunteering England
Type of Resource: Web based facility (http://www.volunteering.org.uk/) covering
events, news and resources. There is a membership option which is free for
organisations with up to £30k of income.

Content summary: There are sections on how we can help, volunteering options,
resources, policy and campaigns and a shop. There are a range of information sheets
available to members including: finding out about volunteering, good practice,
screening and safeguarding, legal issues, and student volunteering. The resources
section covers events, funding, good practice, health and social care and
publications.

Volunteering England has a range of volunteer centres across the country where
prospective volunteers can get local information and expertise. The volunteer
management portal links to a range of guidance and training organisations.

Focus: No specific relevance to resilience.

Sector Relevance: Museums and libraries are one of the categories which
prospective volunteers could use to search for opportunities. This facility takes the
user to a separate site. A search showed lots of opportunities available but even
though searching on museums and libraries some of the search results are not all
relevant to that sector.

Usability: Easy to use, well laid out site, but some of the functionality is a bit slow.

Further support available: Good signposting to other resources.

Effectiveness/Views of Customers: Good resource for this particular subject for both
prospective volunteers and organisations wishing to make more use of volunteers.

Other comments:


Volunteering England
Finance
Funding
Business Planning

0 1 2 3 4

People

HR
Training
Volunteering

0 1 2 3 4

Infrastructure
Environment
IT and Ecommerce

0 1 2 3 4

Product
Sales and Marketing

0 1 2 3 4


Governance
Accreditation

0 1 2 3 4

36


Appendix 1 – Other Sources considered in the Review
Black Radley Culture considered a broad range of advice sources, websites and
publications as part of this project.

Many of these sources contained useful references and links concerning enterprise
and resilience, however not in sufficient depth, in our opinion, to warrant a review as
part of this exercise. Additional sources/sites that we found valuable include:

- Arts and Business (http://artsandbusiness.org.uk/)

- Arts Council England (http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/)

- Business in the Arts (http://www.businessinthearts.co.uk/)

- Community Matters (http://www.communitymatters.org.uk/)

- Culture 24 (http://www.culture24.org.uk/home)

- CyMAL: Museums Archives and Libraries Wales
(http://wales.gov.uk/topics/cultureandsport/museumsarchiveslibraries/cym
al/?lang=en)

- East Midlands Museums Service (http://www.emms.org.uk/)

- Heritage Lottery Fund website (http://www.hlf.org.uk/Pages/Home.aspx)

- Museums Association (http://www.museumsassociation.org/home)

- Museums Galleries Scotland (http://www.museumsgalleriesscotland.org.uk/)

- Northern Ireland Museums Council (http://www.nimc.co.uk/)

- NCVO (http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/)

- Various Local Authority websites



Appendix 2 – Relevant Online forums
We would recommend investigating the opportunities provided by LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is a social networking website for people in professional occupations,
currently it has more than 175 million users, and our research for this project, and
our broader experience of the sector indicates that of those working in the
independent museums sector have already joined. If you are not a member please
go to www.linkedin.com to find out more.

If you are a registered LinkedIn member then you have access to a wide range of
online forums (or Groups as they are described on LinkedIn) where issues related to
resilience and sustainability are regularly raised and discussed. There are too many
to list here but they include Arts & Business, Arts Funding Policy, Practice and Politics,
Heritage Attractions, Museum & Art Galleries, Rethinking the Museum and the
Visitor Attractions Group. All of these can be found by clicking on the groups tab in
your LinkedIn profile

The Guardian Culture Professionals Network is also a very useful forum
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture-professionals-network?CMP). It provides regular
updates on topical issues across the cultural sector, and provides members with the
opportunity to get involved, comment and watch web discussions on line.

There are also a host of more generic, business focused discussion sites, such as the
Free Business Forum http://www.freebusinessforums.co.uk/, and About My Business
http://www.aboutmybusiness.co.uk/.


Making
Share South West Directory
South West NE Tourism Adaptive Voluntary Institute of Volunteering Collections
Advice Topic (content analysis) MMM Museums RAPT Cultivate Tourism .gov.uk HMRC of Social
Federation Toolkit Resilience Arts Fundraising England Link
East Alliance Change
Real
Funding 3 2 3 3 3 2 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 1 1
Business Planning 2 2 3 3 3 3 2 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1
Finance Systems, Tax and Payroll 1 1 2 3 2 2 2 1 3 2 3 2 1 1 1
HR 2 1 2 2 2 3 2 1 3 2 1 2 1 1 1
Training 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 1 3 2 1 3 1 1 1
Volunteering 2 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 3 1
Environment 1 1 1 2 1 3 2 1 3 2 1 1 1 1 1
Premises and Health and Safety 1 1 1 3 1 3 2 1 3 2 1 2 1 1 1
IT and Ecommerce 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 3 2 1 2 1 1 1
Sales and Marketing 1 3 2 3 3 2 2 1 3 2 1 1 1 1 1
Growing your business 3 2 1 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1
Creation and Innovation 3 2 1 2 2 3 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 2
Total 24 22 23 29 25 30 22 15 33 23 16 20 14 14 13
3 scores 4 3 3 6 4 7 0 0 9 0 2 2 1 1 0
2 scores 4 4 5 5 5 4 10 3 3 11 0 4 0 0 1
1 scores 4 5 2 1 3 1 2 9 0 1 10 6 11 11 11
Average 2.00 1.83 1.92 2.42 2.08 2.50 1.83 1.25 2.75 1.92 1.33 1.67 1.17 1.17 1.08
Finance 2.00 1.67 2.67 3.00 2.67 2.33 2.00 1.33 2.67 2.00 2.33 2.00 1.67 1.00 1.00
People 2.33 2.33 2.33 2.00 2.00 2.33 1.67 1.00 3.00 1.67 1.00 2.00 1.00 1.67 1.00
Infrastructure 1.33 1.00 1.33 2.33 1.33 2.67 2.00 1.00 3.00 2.00 1.00 1.67 1.00 1.00 1.00
Product 2.33 2.33 1.33 2.33 2.33 2.67 1.67 1.67 2.33 2.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.33

Museum Specific Advice (content analysis)
Governance 3 1 3 3 3 2 1 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 1
Accreditation 1 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Collections Management 1 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3
Learning and education 1 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Evaluation and benchmarking 2 3 2 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3
Total 8 13 14 14 8 7 6 6 7 5 5 5 5 5 9

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