DAYTON SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY

Provide an extraordinary guest experience
Showcase the collections through engaging exhibits that appeal to all ages
Provide experiential learning opportunities
Ensure financial vitality
Increase visibility, public participation and community partnerships

Exemplify excellence in customer service in all areas of operations.
Establish a five year master plan to update exhibits so that they are positive and engaging educational experiences for entire families to enjoy together; showcase the talent of our own curation staff by curating exhibits in-house whenever possible; create a new museum entrance; ensure that all interactive activities are safe for children by updating the play spaces.
Provide a variety of educational programs for pre-k through 12; interact closely with regional schools to offer STEM educational programs that meet academic curriculum; provide interactive STEM-based field trips, summer camps and other other learning experiences.
Increase fundraising to $2 million per year; be excellent steward of donor resources; build museum's endowment; manage all expenses to budget; increase membership and admission revenue.
Increase brand awareness through the community through greater communication, social media, special events, and community partnerships.

The DSNH is proud to have an incredibly talented and well-educated staff, with all educators and collections staff maintaining advanced degrees. The entire staff is dedicated to reaching the goals and have committed to a set of institutional values that exemplify what our organization is committed to:

Discovery – We invoke a sense of curiosity about science, history and the natural world
Science-Minded – We believe in scientific principles and foster an environment that teaches logic, hypothesis-testing, critical thinking and reasoning.
Inspiration – We inspire a love of learning, exploration and understanding of our past, present and future.
Collaboration – We work together to achieve collective success.
Family-oriented – The family experience is the center of our focus and we provide experiences that engage people of all ages so they may positively interact with one another.
Passionate – We care about what we do and share our enthusiasm with others.

Increase community participation is vital to our ongoing success. This includes increasing the number of members, visitors, volunteers and donors. We continue to see the very best community leadership for our board and associate board to help guide us in reaching our goals.

Upgraded Pizza Kitchen, Shape Shop and Zoo Vet Clinic exhibits.
Serve more than 17,000 school children per year via field trips.
Partner with Preschool Promise to expose children to STEM education before entering kindergarten.
Revitalized summer camp programs to be completely STEM-related.
Reintroduced a "Field Camp" for children to have a field science experience.
Obtained funding to create an Ancient Egypt exhibit that will open summer 2019 and feature one of the country's only 3D digital touch screen displays to examine a 2,000 year old mummy.
Upgrade the Planetarium with new seats, lighting, carpeting, dome cleaning and painting to enhance the experience.
Increased participation in fundraising events.
Established monthly behind-the-scenes tours for community and business leaders.
Increased number of educational animals.
New display cases installed at SunWatch to showcase new exhibits.

Future endeavors include:
Remodeling the Science Theater and Do Lab.
Create a new Ancient Egypt permanent exhibit.
Installing a working lab to study water quality and invertebrates.
Renew AZA accreditation by 2020.
Remodel the front entrance to feature Ice Age Mammals with new casts of a Giant Ground Sloth, Short-Face Bear, Saber-tooth Cat and Mastodon.
Create new space for educational animals.
Reconstruction of the Women's House at SunWatch.
See Fort Ancient recognized as a World Heritage Society by 2022.
Continue the work of identifying all of the 1.8 million artifacts in our collection.
Work hard to inspire children and families about the natural wonders of the world.