Financial Fundamentals for Historic House Museums

Rebekah Beaulieu, Ph.D. is the Associate Director at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, where she oversees financial, legal, and risk management, as well as museum operations and administration. She previously served as the inaugural Executive Director of the Winchester Historical Society and the Sanborn House Historical and Cultural Center in Winchester, Massachusetts. Rebekah has extensive experience in nonprofit financial management, fundraising, and board relations and has presented workshops on grant writing, budget management, and fiscal sustainability in historic sites.

With this superb guidebook, Rebekah Beaulieu fills a central need for preservationists and house museums all over America. In crisp, clear prose, and using valuable case studies throughout, she walks us step-by-step through the critical but often daunting financial and organizational tasks that can help ensure a long life as a house museum, from incorporation and designation to fundraising, budgeting, and long-term strategic planning. There are roughly 15,000 house museums in the United States, and every one of them could benefit from this remarkable volume.

• Chapter One: Building the Foundation: Organizational Structure and IncorporationChapter Two: The Welcome Mat: Understanding Contributed IncomeChapter Three: Brick by Brick: Earned Revenue OpportunitiesChapter Four: The Door Swings Both Ways: Managing Income and ExpensesChapter Five: Blueprints for the Future: Financial Forecasting and Strategic PlanningChapter Six: Conclusion