Nonprofit managemenT

We utilize an inclusive planning method, partnering with our clients to ensure success throughout the process. Our team can assess and interpret an institution's assets and vulnerabilities - delivering a clear, concise, and sustainable path forward. Bevara is regularly commended for our work gathering community and stakeholder input; often finding consensus in what were once deemed hopeless situations. We have conducted feasibility studies, facilitated meetings, created business and strategic plans, tourism initiatives and travel programs, as well as road maps for the successful management of collections and use of technology. Bevara has also provided planning and management services during times of interim leadership, reorganization, and the birth of new nonprofit entities. We have both incubated new organizations and provided shared business and management services to established nonprofits.

Volumes have been written about best practices for nonprofit governance, but how do you know where to begin for your specific organization? Our customized consulting services are designed to work with you, based upon specific goals and desires at this particular time in your governance journey. The team at Bevara takes a conversational, relationship building approach as we guide your organization through what can be thorny and contentious governance issues. We've supported organizations of all types and sizes as
they've dealt with issues such as boards getting into operations, board/management conflict, difficult board members, lack of direction/focus, and financial crisis. All our governance services have both strategic and tactical dimensions, and are aimed at assuring
consistent and sustainable best practice management processes. 

Bevara has also trained countless executives and board members, helping to ensure effective and thoughtful leadership, management and governance.

Concerned about funding a project?  Think a consultant is out of 
your financial reach? Bevara has helped its clients obtain local, state and federal grants, as well as cultivate individual donors and corporate sponsorships. Contact us to learn more about fundraising and grant writing assistance. You can also learn about upcoming workshops in these areas, by clicking here.

Museum planning & exhibitions

Bevara has earned praise on its ability to develop engaging, educational and thought-provoking exhibits which meet the needs of a wide array of audiences. The firm’s work has reached communities worldwide, with many projects being re-produced in multiple languages. Exhibit budgets have ranged from a couple thousand to well over two million dollars.

We provide the full integration of planning, design and production, ensuring that exhibitions are developed within the right institutional context, on time and on budget. Our exhibit related services also include concept development; visitor research and design evaluation; interpretive planning; curatorial research; image research and acquisition; scripting; design; project management and quality control.

Bevara can help an organization carry its mission to the global stage through traveling and virtual exhibits, including trade show displays for nonprofit organizations. These allow for the dissemination of knowledge to a plethora of new audiences. Our traveling exhibit expertise includes planning the tour itinerary; writing and negotiating contracts; coordinating the logistics of packaging, installation and
​de-installation; arranging shipping schedules; storage; providing condition reports; coordinating artifact conservation and art handling services; developing exhibition press kits and media relations.

Art, CULTure & the CREATIVE ECONOMY

According to numerous studies, including one recently completed by the American Planning Association, "the activities of the arts and culture sector and local economic vitality are connected in many ways. Arts, culture, and creativity can: improve a community's competitive edge; create a foundation for defining a sense of place; attract new and visiting populations; integrate the visions of community and business leaders; and contribute to the development of a skilled workforce."

Bevara has over twenty years experience in developing strategies
that build connections among the fields of planning, tourism, economic development, history, arts and culture. All of our related services, and educational opportunities, strive to develop opportunities, as well as financial resilience within the cultural sectors of the communities we serve.

Events

There is an art and science to communicating your message, and events are a powerful platform in which to reach your audience. We know that special events are an integral part of your overall objectives. That is why Bevara functions as a strategic member of your team to understand and translate those objectives into successful events. Whether you need planning assistance with individual components of a program or the entire management and execution, we customize our services to meet your needs. Our approach is one of partnership and collaboration. The types of programs we've managed include conferences, public workshops, outdoor festivals, fundraisers and exhibit openings.

OUTREACH & INTERPRETATION

Buildings and objects alone do not ignite an audience’s imagination or evoke emotion. For that you need people - and the stories they tell. Effective interpretation and outreach bring an organization's unique stories to life, engaging its audience on multiple levels, creating a lasting impression of the organization. Whether it is a full scale interpretive plan, a single guided tour, a hands-on activity for children, a new marketing initiative, fundraising appeal, or special event, Bevara can help your organization engage the hearts and minds of your audiences, through well researched and rigorously planned strategies.

ARCHIVES & COLLECTIONS PLANNING

- Archives and collections space design.
- Audit of existing collections management polices and documents.
- Cataloguing
- Collections support for traveling exhibitions.
- Conservation planning and management.
- Consultation on proper handling and storage of collections.
- Consultation on provenance issues and left property procedures.
- Creation of collections governance documents and policies.
- Digitization
- Disaster planning and emergency preparedness.

RESEARCH

Our research services include the development and management 
of oral history projects; conducting interviews, documenting recordings in audio, video and print formats. We also regularly provide content and image research for use in forming archives, exhibitions, publications and multi-media.