I think our model may be the way to go. The railroad here is own jointly by the City of Ely and the White Pine Historical Railroad Foundation. The City of Ely has delegated the day to day management of the railroad to a management board made up of six individuals. The board is my boss. The Foundation is a 501(c)3 corporation in the state of Nevada.

The management board consists of five members and a chair. The chair is the President of the local bank. The Vice-Chair is a long time volunteer and works for the mine. One board member is a radio personality in San Diego, another is a local retired politician, another is a successful small business owner and the last member is a curator at a national institution in Washington DC.

That means two of our board members call in for a conference call. Last board meeting it was a little eerie, only one local board member was in attendance with our two out of towners. But that was a quorum.

This leads me to another observation; lots of museums just focus on their local community. Our membership has gone from 66 to over 2,200 in five years. We now have members in every state in the union. Not bad for a little railroad in the high desert of Nevada. Why did this happen? Because we invited people across the country to join us.

Now this is where it gets real interesting. Because the railroad is partly own by the City of Ely, we are under the City of Ely’s insurance. And also because we are owned by the City of Ely, I have the opportunity to apply for grants that are not available to a private non-profit. I also have access, to a certain degree, to city resources, like the City Engineer, the City Attorney, the Street Department, etc.

And because half of the railroad is owned by a private non-profit corporation I have access to grants and resources that aren’t available to a government entity. I think it’s a win-win situation, the best of both worlds so to speak.

And more impotantly, for any organization to succeed – for-profit, non-profit, church, club, whatever - there needs to be a combination of skills, attributes and resources. You need the nut & bolt person, the fund raiser, the technician, the dreamer, the administrator. Again any organization is a group of people working together for a common goal. All of the skills are needed and you do need a balance. It is pretty much that simple. But please note it may be simple but not necessarily easy.

Do the corporate rules or customs require that all corporate officers, managers, department heads, restorers, etc. be incumbent members of the Board? This will mean that anyone who wants to manage the operation must get on the Board, and if too many of the eager candidates are successful, then the composition of the Board may be tilted towards micro-management. For real fun, watch what happens if the incumbent manager looses re-election to the Board!
Buckingham Valley Trolley Association, now the Electric City Trolley Museum Association, requires that corporate officers (except the Historian-Librarian) first be Board members. They copied their rules from Railways To Yesterday, but I don't know where RTY got the idea.

At WRM, the Secretary and Treasurer cannot be members of the Board.

Jim,

From my perspective, managers, restorers and department heads are staff and subject to appointment or hire by the officers and directors.

At one time back in the 1970s our directors were elected to fill specific positions by the membership. We had a Director of Track and Siganls, Director of Buildings and Grounds, etc. A by-laws revision in the 1980s ended that requirement.

We also used to have "shareholders", but that was finally voted out of existence in 2007.

Now our board is self-perpetuating with trustees from the general membership and the community.

Wesley

Our bylaws, which are patterned on our State's non-profit corporation code, provide for a nine member Board of Directors elected for staggered 3-year terms (3 each year). The Board then selects the officers of the corporation with no requirements or limitations other than they be members of the corporation.

At this time, our President and two Vice-Presidents are also directors. Two other Vice-Presidents and the CFO are not Board members; one of these VPs specifically did not stand for re-election to the Board when named a VP.

We do our diligence to keep the Board from handling day to day issues. There are many times when we refer items to the officers for their recommendation at the next monthly meeting. The officers meet together as a group at least one time a month to provide for smooth communication and planning.

The Officers name whatever staff positions that fall within their purview. They announce these to the Board; but they are not subject to Board approval. The Board will name special agents as they are required for special projects representing the corporation.

We try for a Broad and Officers meeting ("retreat") several time a year away from the Museum site to have discussions similar to strategic planning.