AIM Hallmarks

A framework bringing together the key characteristics helping heritage organisations prosper and thrive.

What are the AIM Hallmarks?

Many museums look quite similar on paper – in terms of their size and scale, their income and visitor numbers. Yet some stand out as thriving, full of energy and ideas and with great connections to their audience and the wider community. The AIM Hallmarks capture the range of factors that make the difference and help museums to prosper.

Although a museum might sometimes choose to focus on one Hallmark for a time, experience has shown that what makes the difference is having strength in all areas.

Purpose – You have a clear, compelling and people oriented purpose that is shared by everyone in your organisation. You actively use it to keep your organisation on course as it flexes and adapts to changes.

Leadership and culture – The leadership of your organisation is clear, directed, delegates freely and fosters a positive culture that is open to new ideas and ready to seize opportunities. Your organisation is independent-thinking and entrepreneurial. It is focused collectively on outcomes. Key information on performance is shared within the organisation.

Governance – All trustees are proactive advocates for the organisation and its purpose. They focus on strategic and significant issues. They avoid conflicts of interest and always wear only one hat at a time. The trustees and senior staff or volunteers understand their different roles and work well together towards the purpose.

Innovation – The organisation encourages innovation and creative thinking. It adapts, invests and takes planned risks, in order to find new and better ways to achieve its purpose. No one accepts that the status quo is fixed and unchangeable.

Finance – The organisation nurtures a diversity of income sources. Some of these are predictable and it has sound business planning skills. All leaders understand the key drivers of their business model. The organisation actively identifies, develops and utilises its assets to generate income in order to fulfil its purpose.

Collections – The organisation understands the potential of its collection. It recognises what constitutes its heritage assets – including stories, knowledge and places, as well as objects. It seeks to fulfil its purpose through enabling the broadest possible audience to engage fully with all its heritage assets and caring for them in line with best practice.

Visitor focus – The organisation actively seeks to understand its current and potential visitors, customers and supporters, and responds to the needs it identifies, when delivering the organisation’s purpose. It continually measures its quality and its success in delivering a first-class visitor experience to the broadest possible audience, and seeks to adapt whenever necessary.

Awareness and networks – The organisation constantly looks ahead, including outside of itself to the broader heritage and tourism sectors. It is aware of trends and anticipates challenges. It makes itself well-known, relevant to and visible within its immediate community and has a range of other, wider networks.

Tackling inequality – The organisation recognises its responsibility to carry out its purpose for the benefit of all, striving to make a positive impact and represent all communities. It understands and takes action to challenge prejudice and inequality and create equality of opportunity for its workforce and its users. It acknowledges that the connections between our nation’s history and heritage are an invaluable tool in the fight against discrimination.

Using the AIM Hallmarks

The AIM Hallmarks can be used to review and strengthen your museum or heritage organisation by following this guide ‘Preparing to Prosper.’

We recommend using this guide with a group of trustees, volunteers or staff. The whole guide can be used to structure the discussion for an Away Day or it can be used in sections over a series of meetings. Some museums and heritage organisations may want to use the Hallmarks for self-assessment and the guide includes questions that can be used to test how well your organisation measures up.