Museums 101
The essential guide to museum planning, for founders, directors, board members, students, and anyone who wants to understand how museums actually work.
Forthcoming 2026
From first idea to opening day.
Museums 101 is written for people starting a museum, joining a board, or running an institution that needs a clearer plan — feasibility, governance, staffing, and what happens after the ribbon cutting.
Everything that comes with the book.
The book includes a Museum Toolbox, a list of museum resources, and a glossary of essential museum terms. They all live here.
Museum Toolbox
Planning templates, worksheets, and checklists for every phase of museum development. Password in the book.
Open → 02Museum Resources
Codes of ethics, accreditation standards, and associations for every kind of museum.
Browse → 03Museum Glossary
Plain-language definitions of 87 essential museum terms, A to Z.
Look up → 04Blog
Notes on museum planning, benchmark museums, and books every museum person should own.
Read →Museums 101, Second Edition.
The museum world has changed fundamentally since 2015. The second edition brings a decade of new practice, AI and the visitor experience, the civic anchor model, and updated tools across all four planning phases.
- AI, agentic systems, and the transformation of the visitor experience
- The Museum Vitality Index — size-normalized benchmarking for every institution
- The civic anchor model — converting historic buildings into community museums
- Digital presence strategy — Instagram reach, review management, and earned media
- Inclusion, representation, and decolonization in collections and programming
- Post-pandemic financial realities — endowment strategy, revenue mix, sustainability
A better way to measure institutions.
A 0–100 scoring framework that benchmarks museums of every size using size-normalized metrics drawn from IRS Form 990 data, visitor reviews, digital analytics, and community context. A $500K museum can outrank a $25M institution if it's running well. Every metric is a ratio, never a raw number.
Connecticut River Museum · FY2024 · B+ Strong
Mark Walhimer.
Managing Partner of Museum Planning LLC, founded in 1999. More than forty museums across the United States, Mexico, and internationally, from feasibility through opening day.
The plans I produce are designed to be built, not filed. I have been on the other side of the table when a consultant delivers a master plan. I know what happens to that document when the meeting ends.
Mark Walhimer · Managing PartnerEvery museum begins with a conversation.
Founders, directors, boards, and students: tell me where you are and what you're trying to build.