Community Museum Assistance Program

ADVISORY SERVICES

CMAP's program officer is available for advice to all staff and boards of museums in the program, as well as other heritage institutions in Nova Scotia. Where appropriate, requests may be referred to the Council of Nova Scotia Archives (CNSA), the Federation of Nova Scotian Heritage (FNSH), the Nova Scotia Museum (NSM) or other heritage agency. CMAP strongly encourages the exchange of expertise and knowledge within the museum community. The officer works in tandem with staff of the CNSA and the FNSH to coordinate standards and practices within community museums.

EVALUATION

CMAP provides museums with a Self-Assessment that examines seven integral aspects of museum operation: Collection & Access to Information; Community; Facility; Governance; Interpretation; Management; and Marketing & Retail. A museum must undergo an on-site peer evaluation to measure its performance within these seven aspects. Download the Self-Assessment PDF (928 KB)

Following evaluation, the museum receives a detailed assessment summary, or Evaluation Results, which presents the maximum score per question, the score received, and the percentage score for each of the seven aspects. The evaluation tool has been developed with the Standards & Grants Committee of the FNSH, and is reviewed regularly.

FUNDING

CMAP supports not-for-profit, permanent museums whose primary functions are to acquire, conserve, research, communicate and exhibit for the purpose of study, education and enjoyment, material evidence of human history or natural history of Nova Scotia. Eligible museums with integrated archival or fine arts activities may receive funding but stand-alone archives or art galleries do not.

Eligibility:
A museum must first meet criteria outlined in the CMAP Policy and agree to undergo an initial evaluation. To remain in the program a museum must apply each year, undergo evaluation every three years, maintain a minimum score, and submit an Annual Report outlining operating costs for its last complete fiscal year, and monthly statistics for Museum Use & Volunteer Activity.

Funds available to the program are divided among all eligible museums; the amount of support is determined by each museum's financial contribution, its evaluation score and the number of weeks open. Decisions regarding eligibility are made by the Nova Scotia Museum's Board of Governors on the recommendation of Heritage Division staff.

PUBLICATIONS

Annual Report
CMAP publishes an Annual Report & Statement of Operations Summary to all museums in the program each year. Data are compiled from financial and other information supplied by participating museums, providing an overview of operating costs of community museums in the province.

Financial
CMAP has published a handbook, Standard Accounting Guidelines for Museums in Nova Scotia(184 KB, PDF), which provides information on maintaining financial records and preparing annual financial statements according to generally accepted accounting principles. Museums use the handbook when submitting their Annual Reports and Proposed Operating Budgets.

Heritage Directory
CMAP maintains a web-based Heritage Directory of Nova Scotia: Archives, Museums and other Heritage Resources. (public galleries, historical, heritage and naturalist organizations)

Procedures Manual
CMAP has published a Community Museums Procedures Manual for member institutions that outlines all aspects of program management.

Statistics
CMAP publishes and provides quarterly and a year-end Museum Use & Volunteer Activity report to all museums in the program. Data, compiled from information supplied by member museums, provides an overview of museum use, visitor attendance, etc. in the province. These statistics are available upon request.

OTHER

Museum Location Signs
CMAP is responsible for ordering the tourist attraction ‘key symbol' signs which help travellers to locate museums and encourage them to visit communities and tourism businesses located along secondary and scenic routes.