Johnson County Museum Strategic Plan 2019-2024

Showcase Johnson County’s unique stories through collections, programs, and exhibitions utilizing our iconic venues.

To be nationally recognized for presenting local history and exploring the future of one of America’s leading counties.

• We believe in a Visitor First philosophy, meaning the visitor is not an interruption of our work, but the reason for our work.
• We value honesty, integrity, ethics, and the highest professional standards in everything we do.
• We are committed as stewards of the collection to responsibly develop, maintain, preserve, and interpret permanent collections held in public trust.
• We strive for quality and excellence in scholarship and accuracy in interpretation by presenting balanced views.
• We are dedicated and responsive to the diverse residents of our region. We strive to provide accessible and inclusive programs and exhibitions to foster community pride and a greater understanding of Johnson County’s role in the American suburban phenomena.
• We are guided by our mission and vision, while being an essential part of Johnson County, Kansas government’s and Johnson County Park & Recreation District’s (JCPRD) visions and strategic plans.
• We are fiscally responsible.

Executive Summary

In 2017, the Johnson County Museum celebrated 50 years of serving the community along with the grand opening the same year of the new home for the organization in the Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center (JCAHC). The culmination of that work positioned the museum to be an even better resource for local history and community connections for the next fifty years. Since opening, the museum has nearly doubled its attendance, quadrupled its membership base, served more children in facilitated programs than ever before, and increased its collections. These milestones also signaled the successful completion of the museum’s 2006 strategic plan, and the need to forge new long-term goals. The museum engaged in a strategic planning process over the course of a year to engage stakeholders, identify community needs that can be met by the museum, and create new initiatives to explore issues of diversity, accessibility, inclusion, and equity. The result is this five-year strategic plan. As we embark on this community-directed work, we welcome and invite all people, organizations, and partners to join us in making an impact on the future.

The Johnson County Museum has a long history of developing and implementing successful long-range plans. The most recent plan culminated in the grand opening in June 2017 of the new JCAHC where the museum is the major tenant.

For this plan, the two museum boards (Museum Advisory Council and the Museum Foundation) led an internal process without the support of an outside consultant; they established a five-year timeframe. They created a committee to spearhead the work and make recommendations to the joint boards for plan adoption. The committee of board members met most months from August 2018 – September 2019. Senior museum staff made recommendations, and shared data and ideas for their consideration. The process included review of mission, vision, and value statements. They collected responses from staff and board members through a SWOT analysis exercise (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) of issues facing the organization. This information was evaluated and prioritized. Significant time was also spent collecting and analyzing formal surveys and feedback from museum members, volunteers, staff members, museum visitors, field trip participants, and the general public.

Also of significance, the Museum’s plan complements the JCPRD 2015 Legacy Plan in a number of ways. The Legacy Plan contains seven legacy elements; within each are identified goals for the 15-year window of the plan with associated recommendations and action items. The Museum’s plan fits well into the bolded Legacy Elements, listed below, and corresponding actions items. As well, the Museum’s plan embraces collaboration with the JCPRD Culture Division, which includes the Museum, fine and performing arts programs, and facility rental activities.

In addition, the museum boards agreed that these three approaches are critical to success as we pursue our museum goals:

• Commit to collect and act upon data to make more informed decisions that impact the work we do and the community we serve.
• Build partnerships within and outside the museum field to foster inclusivity, diversity, and access to museum programs and services.
• Enhance the technical and cultural competencies of our staff and volunteers to heighten the experience of our visitors.