Long Range Strategic Plan

Long Range Strategic Planning 2004

In 2004, the Coventry Historical Society completed an extensive planning process to develop a long range strategic plan for the Society. Under the direction of a professional consultant, Sally Whipple, the Strategic Planning Committee met over the course of a year to study the most critical issues facing the Society and to develop a course of action to deal with these issues. Below is the Long Range Strategic Planning Summary developed by this committee and adopted by the Society in 2004. To download a PDF version of this document, please click here: Long Range Strategic Plan 2004 PDF.

Strategic Planning Summary
In 2003-2004, the Coventry Historical Society Strategic Planning Committee worked with a consultant to study and set strategies for the most critical issues facing the Society. These were: identity and visibility; governance; volunteers; finances and budgeting; facilities; collections management; and programs and services.

The committee members developed a list of questions that would help them learn more about the community's perceptions and expectations of the Society and provide insights into how the group's critical issues might be addressed and resolved. The consultant then used the questions to interview town officials. When the interviews were completed, the group met several times to discuss ways to address the Society's key issues over the next five years.

Before each meeting, committee members read pertinent sections in their Strategic Planning Resource books and completed homework assignments designed to prepare the group for the topic at hand. At each meeting, the committee thoroughly discussed each issue in terms of its current strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities, decided on possible directions for forward movement, and outlined action steps that would guide the Society into the future.

The greatest issues facing the Society today result from a lack of people power. This prevents the Society from properly organizing its collections, caring for its buildings, and producing meaningful collections-based school and public programs that are at the heart of any historical society mission.

Strategy

The Coventry Historical Society will spend the next five years strengthening its infrastructure - improving the way it organizes itself, governs, recruits and uses volunteers, manages its financial resources, cares for its property, and reaches out to the community.

At the same time, the Society will begin to generate excitement for Coventry's 2012 Tercentennial Celebration and position itself as a leader in researching and telling the stories of Coventry's past-through research and oral history projects, school, family, and scout programs, volunteer opportunities, web site and CD/DVD presentations, publications, and other collections-based history activities.

As the Society becomes better organized, it will be able to tell more stories more effectively, drawing an increasing number of volunteers and program participants into the Society as time goes by. At the end of five years, if the Society has achieved its goals and created a Society active and prosperous enough to make it feasible and appropriate, the Executive Board will consider building a new educational and storage facility.

Moving the plan forward

In order to keep the plan's implementation focused and moving forward, preliminary action steps after board approval should include:

Assign one person to monitor the execution of the strategic plan by working with individuals and committees to ensure that work progresses in a coordinated and timely way.

Assign a Bylaws Revision Committee to begin work immediately to address changes in the Mission Statement and job descriptions for all Executive Board positions and committees.

Assign goals to committees, as appropriate, and requiring each committee to develop work plans with priorities, timelines, responsibilities, goals, and the resources needed to accomplish those goals.

Reorganize the Society's collections to increase accessibility and usage.

Vision
The Coventry Historical Society will be recognized as a vital component of the town's 2012 Tercentennial Celebration. People in town will know that "Coventry Has a Story" and that the collections and people at the Society make those stories fun and accessible for anyone who wants to learn more about the past.

The Society will have ample volunteers, a well-organized and accessible collection, well cared for buildings, and a stable and improving financial situation.

The Executive Board will be poised to embark on a project to build a new education and storage facility at the Strong-Porter property, and the town will be eager to support the project due to the Historical Society's contributions to the school system and quality of life for area residents.

Mission
The purpose of the Coventry Historical Society as defined in its bylaws is:

To discover, collect and preserve whatever pertains to the history of the Town of Coventry and the surrounding area;

To promote and encourage historical research in all its aspects and to make available to the members of the Society and to the public, the results of this research;

To hold meetings and to discuss such matters as are of interest to the members of the Society and the public;

And, in general, to carry on all other activities appropriate for a historical society.

The Coventry Historical Society's Mission Statement
The Coventry Historical Society is charged with the mandate of performing three central missions:

It seeks to acquire, preserve and make available for reference and research use all noncurrent, inactive archival material of a personal, social, religious, or political nature, created or received in the Town of Coventry, that are adjudged to be of sufficient historical value to warrant their permanent preservation.

The Society seeks to collect, preserve and make available for reference and research use any artifacts relating to the Town of Coventry.

The Society seeks to educate the general public, through displays, programs, events, and historic structures, as to the history of Coventry and its inhabitants.

The Coventry Historical Society serves, therefore, as the collective historical memory of the Town of Coventry, Connecticut.

June, 1993

During the course of its meetings, the Strategic Planning Committee proposed a new mission for the Board's consideration:

The Coventry Historical Society aims to inspire public awareness and appreciation of the diverse peoples, places, and events that contribute to Coventry's evolving history.

We preserve and interpret Coventry's historical record through active collecting, research, exhibitions, programs and communications in the belief that an understanding of history can provide individuals and communities with connections to the past, a sense of belonging in the present, and responsibility for the future.
Summary of Goals
A. Identity and visibility

The Coventry Historical Society will assess current collaborations and set formal guidelines for collaborating with other groups to ensure that the Society stands out as a partner, is appropriately credited, and weighs each potential collaboration carefully in terms of costs, benefits, image, and visibility.

The Coventry Historical Society will visibly and actively collect and display l8th-, 19th-‚ and 20th-century Coventry history to set the Society apart from colonial groups in town and to help people understand the breadth of the collections and the Society's potential for different kinds of programming.

The Coventry Historical Society will create an active program schedule and publicity plan that puts the Society in local media on a regular basis.

B. Governance

The Coventry Historical Society will be led by a well-informed, skilled, and experienced Executive Board that accomplishes its work using an active committee system and the help of nonboard members.

C. Volunteers

The Coventry Historical Society will develop a well organized and focused volunteer program that continually brings new people of all ages into the Society for meaningful work that advances the strategic plan and adds to the friendly feeling of the Society.

D. Finances and Budgeting

The Coventry Historical Society will manage and forecast its finances using multiyear budgets and written investment and spending policies.

The Coventry Historical Society will start to develop annual and long-term fundraising plans, always factoring the possibility of a new barn into plans and goals.

The Coventry Historical Society will continue to seek grants and contract, as needed, with grant writers to fund projects and programs.

The Coventry Historical Society will serve and benefit from the support of 300 members.

E. Facilities

The Coventry Historical Society will evaluate its current spaces and think creatively about how to use them more effectively.

The Coventry Historical Society will assess its properties and forecast repairs, maintenance tasks, and budgets.

The Coventry Historical Society will develop a long-range land use plan for all of the properties.

The Coventry Historical Society will look to other sites in town for outreach and off-site programs and exhibitions to make up for the lack of on-site Society meeting and parking space for larger groups, i.e., the library, to Town hall, schools, churches, walking tour areas, Patriots Park, etc.

F. Collections

The Coventry Historical Society will revisit its collections policy and forms and revise as needed to clarify what the Society should collect and how those collections should relate to the buildings.

The Coventry Historical Society will maintain well organized, accessible, and securely stored collections.

The Coventry Historical Society will develop a disaster plan for each of the Society's properties.

The Coventry Historical Society will make and begin to implement plans for using technology to make collection more accessible and to present collections and ideas in new and creative ways.

The Coventry Historical Society will continue to develop its Brick School House oral history project as part of the Society's collection and program base.

The Coventry Historical Society will evaluate its genealogical services and collections, compare them with those at the library and Town Hall, and see if there are ways to fill gaps or better coordinate services.

G. Programs and Services

The Coventry Historical Society will increase its school visitation and establish the Society as an important contributor to the community, worthy of financial and other kinds of support from individuals, businesses, and local government.

The Coventry Historical Society will create a system of hosting a variety of inexpensive but high quality programs regularly throughout each year and marketing them creatively in order to raise the Society's visibility and build an image as a lively, active, and vibrant organization that is eager to serve the public.

The Coventry Historical Society will rethink the way it presents the Strong Porter Museum and Brick School House Museum to the public

The Coventry Historical Society will develop a system for marketing its programs and services at every opportunity.

The Coventry Historical Society will develop plans for longer-term local history exhibitions, research projects, and related programs that explore broad themes in Coventry's history such as religion, immigration, and agriculture.

The Coventry Historical Society will build an identity as the convener of Coventry's varied history groups and as a vital component of the Tercentennial Celebration.

The Coventry Historical Society will share historical information, archival materials, and stories about Coventry with the public.

Organizational History
The Coventry Historical Society, incorporated by the State of Connecticut in 1962, is a 501(c) (3)‚ nonprofit educational institution governed by an Executive Board that is elected by the general membership. For 43 years, the Coventry Historical Society has worked to preserve and tell the stories of Coventry's people. The Society teaches about the past through its collections, public and school programs, festivals, tours of its historical properties, research opportunities for genealogists and others, The Sign Post monthly newsletter, the Society's web site, and articles in the town's Coventry Monthly magazine.

The Society owns and maintains three historical properties located on more than eight acres:

The Brick Schoolhouse (circa 1823) on Merrow Road. (During strategic planning, an oral history project and event involving some of the school's last graduates has turned the spotlight on this building and opened up new ideas and avenues for programming.)

The Sprague House (circa 1821) and four acres of land on South Street.

The Strong-Porter House Museum (circa 1730) and four acres of land on 2382 South Street. This property also has an original, restored 4-seat out house, a 19th-century barn foundation, a carpenter shop, a standing barn, and a carriage shed used for storage.

The Society also owns thousands of historical items that it uses to teach about Coventry's past. They include: bottles and flasks from the Coventry Glass Works (1813 to 1850); the West Family collection of photographs, letters, journals, and ledgers; documents and pictures related to other Coventry families and businesses from all eras; several restored 19th-century portraits; pictures and postcards showing Coventry and its residents from all eras; two hearses owned and used in Coventry and a wagon manufactured by the Armstrong Wagon Company of Coventry; and handwork of the Strong and West families.

By collecting, and preserving the material culture of its town and providing educational programs, the Coventry Historical Society has made great contributions to its community throughout its history. However, like many other history, civic, and religious groups, it has experienced a slowing down in recent years. Volunteers are harder to come by, and as a result, it is harder to do the work that needs to be done in order to fulfill the Society's mission. Fewer volunteers makes it harder to care for collections, stay on top of building maintenance, raise money, and develop sound, collections-based educational programs that provide schools and residents with the numbers and kinds of learning activities that can add value to a community and contribute to civic pride.

In 2002, the Coventry Historical Society board recognized that it was losing energy due to a lack of volunteers, the constant demands of three historical buildings, and the labor-intensive fundraisers needed to maintain them. Realizing that something needed to change, the board decided to examine its current situation and set strategies that would strengthen its organization and enable it to serve the community more fully.

January 2006


Long Range Strategic Planning 2004
		In 2004, the Coventry Historical Society completed an extensive planning process to develop a long range strategic plan for the Society. Under the direction of a professional consultant, Sally Whipple, the Strategic Planning Committee met over the course of a year to study the most critical issues facing the Society and to develop a course of action to deal with these issues. Below is the Long Range Strategic Planning Summary developed by this committee and adopted by the Society in 2004. To download a PDF version of this document, please click here: Long Range Strategic Plan 2004 PDF. Strategic Planning Summary In 2003-2004, the Coventry Historical Society Strategic Planning Committee worked with a consultant to study and set strategies for the most critical issues facing the Society. These were: identity and visibility; governance; volunteers; finances and budgeting; facilities; collections management; and programs and services. The committee members developed a list of questions that would help them learn more about the community's perceptions and expectations of the Society and provide insights into how the group's critical issues might be addressed and resolved. The consultant then used the questions to interview town officials. When the interviews were completed, the group met several times to discuss ways to address the Society's key issues over the next five years. Before each meeting, committee members read pertinent sections in their Strategic Planning Resource books and completed homework assignments designed to prepare the group for the topic at hand. At each meeting, the committee thoroughly discussed each issue in terms of its current strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities, decided on possible directions for forward movement, and outlined action steps that would guide the Society into the future. The greatest issues facing the Society today result from a lack of people power. This prevents the Society from properly organizing its collections, caring for its buildings, and producing meaningful collections-based school and public programs that are at the heart of any historical society mission. Strategy The Coventry Historical Society will spend the next five years strengthening its infrastructure - improving the way it organizes itself, governs, recruits and uses volunteers, manages its financial resources, cares for its property, and reaches out to the community. At the same time, the Society will begin to generate excitement for Coventry's 2012 Tercentennial Celebration and position itself as a leader in researching and telling the stories of Coventry's past-through research and oral history projects, school, family, and scout programs, volunteer opportunities, web site and CD/DVD presentations, publications, and other collections-based history activities. As the Society becomes better organized, it will be able to tell more stories more effectively, drawing an increasing number of volunteers and program participants into the Society as time goes by. At the end of five years, if the Society has achieved its goals and created a Society active and prosperous enough to make it feasible and appropriate, the Executive Board will consider building a new educational and storage facility. Moving the plan forward In order to keep the plan's implementation focused and moving forward, preliminary action steps after board approval should include: Assign one person to monitor the execution of the strategic plan by working with individuals and committees to ensure that work progresses in a coordinated and timely way. Assign a Bylaws Revision Committee to begin work immediately to address changes in the Mission Statement and job descriptions for all Executive Board positions and committees. Assign goals to committees, as appropriate, and requiring each committee to develop work plans with priorities, timelines, responsibilities, goals, and the resources needed to accomplish those goals. Reorganize the Society's collections to increase accessibility and usage. Vision The Coventry Historical Society will be recognized as a vital component of the town's 2012 Tercentennial Celebration. People in town will know that "Coventry Has a Story" and that the collections and people at the Society make those stories fun and accessible for anyone who wants to learn more about the past. The Society will have ample volunteers, a well-organized and accessible collection, well cared for buildings, and a stable and improving financial situation. The Executive Board will be poised to embark on a project to build a new education and storage facility at the Strong-Porter property, and the town will be eager to support the project due to the Historical Society's contributions to the school system and quality of life for area residents. Mission The purpose of the Coventry Historical Society as defined in its bylaws is: To discover, collect and preserve whatever pertains to the history of the Town of Coventry and the surrounding area; To promote and encourage historical research in all its aspects and to make available to the members of the Society and to the public, the results of this research; To hold meetings and to discuss such matters as are of interest to the members of the Society and the public; And, in general, to carry on all other activities appropriate for a historical society. The Coventry Historical Society's Mission Statement The Coventry Historical Society is charged with the mandate of performing three central missions: It seeks to acquire, preserve and make available for reference and research use all noncurrent, inactive archival material of a personal, social, religious, or political nature, created or received in the Town of Coventry, that are adjudged to be of sufficient historical value to warrant their permanent preservation. The Society seeks to collect, preserve and make available for reference and research use any artifacts relating to the Town of Coventry. The Society seeks to educate the general public, through displays, programs, events, and historic structures, as to the history of Coventry and its inhabitants. The Coventry Historical Society serves, therefore, as the collective historical memory of the Town of Coventry, Connecticut. June, 1993 During the course of its meetings, the Strategic Planning Committee proposed a new mission for the Board's consideration: The Coventry Historical Society aims to inspire public awareness and appreciation of the diverse peoples, places, and events that contribute to Coventry's evolving history. We preserve and interpret Coventry's historical record through active collecting, research, exhibitions, programs and communications in the belief that an understanding of history can provide individuals and communities with connections to the past, a sense of belonging in the present, and responsibility for the future. Summary of Goals A. Identity and visibility The Coventry Historical Society will assess current collaborations and set formal guidelines for collaborating with other groups to ensure that the Society stands out as a partner, is appropriately credited, and weighs each potential collaboration carefully in terms of costs, benefits, image, and visibility. The Coventry Historical Society will visibly and actively collect and display l8th-, 19th-‚ and 20th-century Coventry history to set the Society apart from colonial groups in town and to help people understand the breadth of the collections and the Society's potential for different kinds of programming. The Coventry Historical Society will create an active program schedule and publicity plan that puts the Society in local media on a regular basis. B. Governance The Coventry Historical Society will be led by a well-informed, skilled, and experienced Executive Board that accomplishes its work using an active committee system and the help of nonboard members. C. Volunteers The Coventry Historical Society will develop a well organized and focused volunteer program that continually brings new people of all ages into the Society for meaningful work that advances the strategic plan and adds to the friendly feeling of the Society. D. Finances and Budgeting The Coventry Historical Society will manage and forecast its finances using multiyear budgets and written investment and spending policies. The Coventry Historical Society will start to develop annual and long-term fundraising plans, always factoring the possibility of a new barn into plans and goals. The Coventry Historical Society will continue to seek grants and contract, as needed, with grant writers to fund projects and programs. The Coventry Historical Society will serve and benefit from the support of 300 members. E. Facilities The Coventry Historical Society will evaluate its current spaces and think creatively about how to use them more effectively. The Coventry Historical Society will assess its properties and forecast repairs, maintenance tasks, and budgets. The Coventry Historical Society will develop a long-range land use plan for all of the properties. The Coventry Historical Society will look to other sites in town for outreach and off-site programs and exhibitions to make up for the lack of on-site Society meeting and parking space for larger groups, i.e., the library, to Town hall, schools, churches, walking tour areas, Patriots Park, etc. F. Collections The Coventry Historical Society will revisit its collections policy and forms and revise as needed to clarify what the Society should collect and how those collections should relate to the buildings. The Coventry Historical Society will maintain well organized, accessible, and securely stored collections. The Coventry Historical Society will develop a disaster plan for each of the Society's properties. The Coventry Historical Society will make and begin to implement plans for using technology to make collection more accessible and to present collections and ideas in new and creative ways. The Coventry Historical Society will continue to develop its Brick School House oral history project as part of the Society's collection and program base. The Coventry Historical Society will evaluate its genealogical services and collections, compare them with those at the library and Town Hall, and see if there are ways to fill gaps or better coordinate services. G. Programs and Services The Coventry Historical Society will increase its school visitation and establish the Society as an important contributor to the community, worthy of financial and other kinds of support from individuals, businesses, and local government. The Coventry Historical Society will create a system of hosting a variety of inexpensive but high quality programs regularly throughout each year and marketing them creatively in order to raise the Society's visibility and build an image as a lively, active, and vibrant organization that is eager to serve the public. The Coventry Historical Society will rethink the way it presents the Strong Porter Museum and Brick School House Museum to the public The Coventry Historical Society will develop a system for marketing its programs and services at every opportunity. The Coventry Historical Society will develop plans for longer-term local history exhibitions, research projects, and related programs that explore broad themes in Coventry's history such as religion, immigration, and agriculture. The Coventry Historical Society will build an identity as the convener of Coventry's varied history groups and as a vital component of the Tercentennial Celebration. The Coventry Historical Society will share historical information, archival materials, and stories about Coventry with the public. Organizational History The Coventry Historical Society, incorporated by the State of Connecticut in 1962, is a 501(c) (3)‚ nonprofit educational institution governed by an Executive Board that is elected by the general membership. For 43 years, the Coventry Historical Society has worked to preserve and tell the stories of Coventry's people. The Society teaches about the past through its collections, public and school programs, festivals, tours of its historical properties, research opportunities for genealogists and others, The Sign Post monthly newsletter, the Society's web site, and articles in the town's Coventry Monthly magazine. The Society owns and maintains three historical properties located on more than eight acres: The Brick Schoolhouse (circa 1823) on Merrow Road. (During strategic planning, an oral history project and event involving some of the school's last graduates has turned the spotlight on this building and opened up new ideas and avenues for programming.) The Sprague House (circa 1821) and four acres of land on South Street. The Strong-Porter House Museum (circa 1730) and four acres of land on 2382 South Street. This property also has an original, restored 4-seat out house, a 19th-century barn foundation, a carpenter shop, a standing barn, and a carriage shed used for storage. The Society also owns thousands of historical items that it uses to teach about Coventry's past. They include: bottles and flasks from the Coventry Glass Works (1813 to 1850); the West Family collection of photographs, letters, journals, and ledgers; documents and pictures related to other Coventry families and businesses from all eras; several restored 19th-century portraits; pictures and postcards showing Coventry and its residents from all eras; two hearses owned and used in Coventry and a wagon manufactured by the Armstrong Wagon Company of Coventry; and handwork of the Strong and West families. By collecting, and preserving the material culture of its town and providing educational programs, the Coventry Historical Society has made great contributions to its community throughout its history. However, like many other history, civic, and religious groups, it has experienced a slowing down in recent years. Volunteers are harder to come by, and as a result, it is harder to do the work that needs to be done in order to fulfill the Society's mission. Fewer volunteers makes it harder to care for collections, stay on top of building maintenance, raise money, and develop sound, collections-based educational programs that provide schools and residents with the numbers and kinds of learning activities that can add value to a community and contribute to civic pride. In 2002, the Coventry Historical Society board recognized that it was losing energy due to a lack of volunteers, the constant demands of three historical buildings, and the labor-intensive fundraisers needed to maintain them. Realizing that something needed to change, the board decided to examine its current situation and set strategies that would strengthen its organization and enable it to serve the community more fully.