Purpose

All museums and heritage organisations need a clear, compelling purpose, and everyone in the organisation needs to know what it is, and actively support it. A strong purpose can enable museums to test any new ideas or developments against it and help bring the whole organisation together – everyone should be clear how their work contributes to that overall purpose.

A good purpose doesn’t have to be grandiose – a speaker at one of our Hallmarks events gave the example of a playgroup that changed its purpose from ‘to improve the lives of families and children’ to ‘to help the children of our village be ready for school’ and found that the more modest, specific purpose was more useful as a tool within the organisation because it was easier to measure their activities against it.

Historic Royal Palaces developed a new Purpose which they have used to drive change within the organisation, which you can read below.

Case Studies
Gilbert White’s House and the Oates Collections: Purpose
Gilbert White’s House and the Oates Collections: Purpose

Gilbert White’s House and the Oates Collections have been supported by the AIM Prospering Boards programme to help them refine the existing vision for the site and devise a more streamlined strategy, based on a clear organisational purpose

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The Canal and River Trust
The Canal and River Trust

Using The AIM Hallmarks in organisational planning

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