Stonewall LIbrary & Archives Inc

1. Continue strengthening programmatic, operational, leadership, and advisory functions.
2. Increase revenue and build cash reserves.
3. Increase inclusion, equity, and diversity and belonging regarding people, holdings, and programs.
4. Increase outreach to local and national audiences.

1. As SNMA matures as an organization, it seeks to professionalize it policies to practices regarding the operation of a library, archive, and museum. For too many years, SNMA has relied upon the input of well-meaning volunteers but to be viable we need to meet industry standards in our areas of practice.

2. To remain financially sound, continue to operate without a deficit, and build on cash reserves.

3. SNMA’s roots has been primarily in the gay white, male population. There has never been any intentionality in diversity. We seek to diversify our people, holdings, and programs. Specific recommendations on this topic have come from our Task Force on Anti-Racism.

4. Given the vastness of SNMA’s holdings, we seek to make them available to a larger local and national

1. Continue strengthening programmatic, operational, leadership, and advisory functions.
a. Programmatic
i. Increase programming budget.
ii. Build more archival infrastructure and finding aids.
iii. Begin archival digitization.
iv. Activate collections committee – set priorities for new acquisitions (BIPOC, politics, youth, etc.
v. Maintain professional affiliations and continue MAP type assessment.
vi. Create collaborative program plan (i.e., local outreach initiatives, youth, BIPOC, artists, organizations, remote educational opportunities, teacher training programs in other cities, graduate student fellowships, etc.)
vii. Create and implement program assessment tools.
b. Operational
i. Build and strengthen internal infrastructure and programs.
ii. Increase and supervise additional staff.
iii. Improve/expand space – dependent on availability and funding.
c. Leadership – Board of Directors
i. Quarterly training on roles, responsibilities, fundraising, etc.
ii. Increase size of board by 5 new members.
iii. Increase size of Finance Committee to 4 members.
iv. Increase size of Development Committee to 10 members
v. Increase size of Audit Committee to 3 members.
vi. Recruit and train future board leadership.
d. Advisory – National Advisory Council
i. Rewrite/refocus mission, purpose, and role.
ii. Create guidelines and regular meeting schedule.
2. Increase revenue and build cash reserves.
a. Increase fundraising budget.
b. Increase annual revenue by 6%.
c. Continue to operate without deficits.
d. Devise and implement plan for investing EIDL.
e. Develop cash reserve equal to 25% of annual expenses within three years.
f. Explore and reach out to new institutional funders.
g. Increase membership base annually 30/20/10% over next three years.
h. Increase corporate sponsorship annually 30/20/10% over next three years. .
i. Increase outreach for testamentary giving.
j. Build young donor base.
k. Increase donor base by 25%
l. Identify and secure 5 new high net worth donors per year.
3. Increase inclusion, equity, and diversity and belonging regarding people, holdings, and programs.
a. Adopt a new policy of inclusion, equality, diversity, and belonging.
b. Create a budget allocation.

Stonewall National Museum & Archives is a safe, welcoming place that inspires and promotes understanding through collecting, preserving, and sharing the proud culture of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people of all stories, and their significant role in American society.

SNMA is one of the leading gay archives in America. In our Archive, we have more than 2,700 linear feet of documents, totaling more than 6 million individual pages. There are more than 500 periodical titles and national LGBTQ publications as well as regional serials from more than 75 cities nationwide. Additionally, SNMA has more than 2,000 objects of critical importance to gay history—mostly from the last 50 years.

The Stonewall Archives serves as a critical source of information, aiding historians, scholars, and students in their research and study of LGBTQ history and culture. Since its inception, hundreds have benefited from the papers, serials, objects, and ephemera housed in this important collection. Items from SNMA regularly form an integral part of Stonewall’s exhibitions as well as other exhibitions nationally.