GALVESTON HISTORICAL FOUNDATION INC
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Museums and Historic Properties
Galveston Historical Foundation serves as the steward and operator of many of Galveston’s most significant historic properties: The Michel Menard House (1838), Ashton Villa (1859), St. Joseph Catholic Church (1860), Garten Verein (1880), and Bishop’s Palace (1892).
Texas Seaport Museum and 1877 Tall Ship Elissa
One of the most prominent examples of our commitment to both preservation and community outreach is ELISSA, a National Historic Landmark. ELISSA is one of the finest ship restorations in the world and is truly one of America’s treasures. GHF’s maritime component, the Texas Seaport Museum (TSM), has grown to include not only the ELISSA, but also the SEAGULL II, an excursion vessel that provides harbor tours as well as serves as a historic floating classroom.
Events-Dickens on the Strand, Historic Homes Tour
Beyond Galveston, thousands of heritage tourists learn about and become committed to the mission of GHF through its events. The Foundation’s two largest events are Dickens on the Strand and the Galveston Historic Homes Tour. GHF also hold many small events engaging the public with historic buildings throughout the year.
Preservation and Conservation
Galveston Historical Foundation serves a wide range of individuals that come from diverse socio-economic backgrounds and locations. Many receive assistance and services through our Preservation and Conservation Services Department, which operates an architectural salvage warehouse, helps low-to-moderate income homeowners with repairs and paint through several grant programs, manages a Revolving Fund, and develops affordable housing as a Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO). The department runs the Preservation Resource Center which provides information for homeowners about historic properties as well as rehabilitation techniques and suggestions. The Preservation Resource Center conducts demonstration classes, lectures, and neighborhood walking tours.
Where we work
External reviews
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Total number of volunteer hours contributed to the organization
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Events-Dickens on the Strand, Historic Homes Tour
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of new website visitors
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
973,328 Pageviews
Number of paid participants of guided tours
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Museums and Historic Properties
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Includes Texas Seaport Museum, Bishop's Palace, Historic Harbor Tours and Great Storm.
Number of overall donors
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Members and Donors
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Galveston Historical Foundation seeks to preserve and revitalize the architectural and maritime history of Galveston Island and Galveston County. GHF today embraces a broader vision of history and architecture that encompasses advancements in environmental and natural sciences and their intersection with historic buildings and coastal life, and conceives of history as an engaging story of individual lives and experiences on Galveston Island from the 19th century to the present day.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
GHF will continue to attract and retain high quality staff, provide stewardship for buildings and vessels, care for our collections, and produce quality events and programming. GHF will be innovative in our revenue streams, consolidate financial and data systems and prepare for future capital improvements.
GHF will be creative and meet people's needs and expectations by introducing the public to local history, and ways to preserve our buildings in the coastal environment. GHF will empower others to explore their own history through research, learning, and interpretation, and realize that history brings meaning to their lives.
GHF will increase visitation at historic sites and cultural events by developing an integrated approach to visitor services. By deepening our engagement, GHF will instill a passion for Galveston as evidenced by repeat visitation, volunteerism and donor gifts. We will showcase our diverse and rich history by providing unique, authentic experiences connecting people to history and GHF.
GHF will seek to bring positive change to reinvigorate historic landmarks and the Strand Mechanic area.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Since 1871, GHF has worked to preserve history in Galveston and the region. This longevity has brought a sense of trust from the community, our members and visitors. GHF has over 30 full-time professional staff and 35 part-time employees working each day in preservation, marketing, history, museum services and more. Our board and staff are dedicated to financial responsibility as evidenced by our balanced revenue streams and clean audits.
We responsibility care for our historic sites and vessels and operate over 15 historic places in Galveston. As an organization we strive to maintain our properties and through our own work, inspire others to deepen their knowledge of history and preservation.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
GHF moved rapidly through many concepts in the strategic plan and we are actively adjusting to strengthen this plan with new creative concepts. Our historic site visitation continues to grow, our Center for Coastal Heritage is growing with more attendees at conferences and the depth of all of our programming is well received. Dickens on The Strand and Historic Homes Tour are successful and with the creation of two new events, we are expanding our heritage programming events.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
-
How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects
-
Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We act on the feedback we receive, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
-
What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently
Financials
Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights?
Learn more
about GuideStar Pro.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
GALVESTON HISTORICAL FOUNDATION INC
Board of directorsas of 03/08/2024
Jim Andrews
Cesar Hernandez
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
-
Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 07/24/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.