Dear All
I am looking into setting up a Friends' Organization for the Greater
Manchester County Record Office. Having had no experience of this myself I
would greatly appreciate advice. In particular the following questions
come to mind:
What is the purpose of the organisation? e.g. Volunteer work, Fund raising,
Profile raising
Has the purpose changed since you first envisaged setting up an
organization and, if so, why?
How did you go about initially attracting members and getting the
organization off the ground?
How is the Friends Group organized? - e.g. responsible staff, how far do
the Friends run themselves, issues around administering membership
What do the Friends actually do?
What do the Friends get in return for membership?
Why do people join the Friends?
What are the resource implications (staff, space, time, supplies and
equipment, money) and how many Friends do you have?
(How) do you assess people's suitability e.g. for volunteer work do you
only allow certain people to do certain types of work.
What are the benefits?
Are there any financial benefits in a Friends Organization?
What are the drawbacks?
What would you do differently if you were starting from scratch again?
Overall would you recommend going down this route?
Any advice would be very welcome.
With thanks
Elizabeth Oxborrow-Cowan
Greater Manchester County Record Office
56 Marshall Street
Manchester
M4 5FU
England
Tel + 44 161 819 4705
Fax + 44 161 839 3808
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