MAP Assessment Types

MAP Assessments

MAP offers five assessments. Choose the assessment that’s right for your museum by using this short questionnaire to narrow it down and then scroll down to learn more about your top choices.

Aspects common to all assessments:

• Grounded in the Core Standards
• Include Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion (DEAI) issues as they relate to the assessment focus
• Help museums look at both functional and strategic aspects of their operations
• Use an online platform to move through modules with narrated presentations, resources, and required activities
• Require an internal MAP team to lead the museum and be responsible for the bulk of the online work, required activities, site visit organization and action plans

Organizational Assessment

This basic strategic and holistic assessment helps a museum look at its operations primarily from the perspective of how well activities, resources, and mission align with each other, and with professional ethics, practices, and standards.

To help a museum have a solid foundation to build on for long-term health and impact, this assessment places significant emphasis on thinking, acting, and planning strategically; organizational alignment, capacity; leadership and organizational structure; risk management; and organizational culture. This assessment assists museums define key areas of operations or functions that need to be strengthened.

Learn more about the Organizational Assessment.

Collections Stewardship Assessment

This assessment focuses on practical, ethical, and strategic collections issues and activities related to the care and management of a museum’s collections per professional practices and standards. It also looks at the collections within the context of the museum’s total operations, plans, and resource allocation.

The results will help the museum—governing authority and staff—increase its knowledge, recognize and mitigate risk, take action, prioritize long-term collections stewardship issues, gain physical and intellectual control of the collections, and write polices and plans.

Learn more about the Collections Stewardship Assessment.

Education & Interpretation Assessment

This assessment helps a museum evaluate how well it is carrying out its educational role and mission, meeting core standards for education and interpretation. In addition to looking at the museum’s current content delivery vehicles such as its exhibitions, tours, and programs, the Education & Interpretation Assessment considers these in context with the museum’s community, audiences, and other aspects of operations so the museum can be responsive, relevant, and trusted source of learning and educational partner in its larger education ecosystem.

This assessment also looks at the museum’s educational content creation and delivery from the perspective of diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion.

Learn more about the Education & Interpretation Assessment.

Community & Audience Engagement Assessment

This assessment focuses on the museum’s awareness and understanding of, and relationship with, its various communities and audiences; and their perception of, and experience with, the museum. It looks at what roles the museum plays in its community and vice versa. And it helps the museum look at its culture and actions when it comes to diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion—all of which impact its long-term financial sustainability.

A Community & Audience Engagement assessment helps museums gather better input from their constituents, develop a more nuanced view about the community’s and audiences’ demographics and needs, respond to the changing nature of its audiences, and incorporate these findings into planning and operational decisions.

Learn more about the Community & Audience Engagement Assessment.

Board Leadership Assessment

This advanced assessment is for private non-profit museums with policy-making boards and paid staff which are looking for guidance on how to strengthen their institution and ensure its long-term success through more effective leadership-oriented governance.

The assessment looks at the board from three perspectives—people, work, culture—and helps them identify opportunities to move the museum beyond surviving to thriving. It also helps strengthen the board’s understanding of museum ethics and standards. (Note: Advisory boards are not eligible to participate in this Assessment.)

Learn more about the Board Leadership Assessment.

MAP also offers a special Follow Up Opportunity for museums that have participated in a MAP in 2014 or later. This year two application deadlines will be offered on June 1, and August 1, 2023. Interested in this opportunity? Review the Follow Up Visit Guidelines and learn more about how to apply by visiting our Follow Up Visit Opportunity page.