The Branford Electric Railway Association
THE OLDEST CONTINUOUSLY RUNNING SUBURBAN TROLLEY LINE IN THE USA - A NATIONAL HISTORIC DISTRICT
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
At the end of the five-year period covered by this strategic plan, the Shore Line Trolley Museum will be stronger than it is now: its finances will be healthy, with strong development operations; its visitation will be robust and its audiences diverse; its collections will be pristine, focused, and accessible; its infrastructure will be shored up, with greater access for visitors; and its exhibits and programs will engage a wide swath of the public. The Museum will be a place of continuing research coupled with the spectacular opportunity to experience transit vehicles firsthand. The Governance of the Museum will have been clarified, with a robust succession plan for Trustees, Sta, and Volunteers to ensure the continuing success of the Museum. The Museum will be well known in the region and will be a resource to and model for other railway museums.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Trolley Reading Program & Home-School Program
This program provides an opportunity for children 4 to 8 years of age to listen to a story in a real trolley car. The day begins with a trolley ride and is followed by a visit to our “Story Trolley” to listen to each week’s children’s story, read by one of our volunteer educators, followed by time to explore the other trolley cars on display.In addition to the reading program, each child will receive a snack.
School Charters
This program provides a year round venue for children of all ages. School charters provide educational visits and special event visits.
Special Events
Special events make up the majority of the museum's revenue. Family events include the Easter Bunny, Super Hero's Day, Fire Truck and First Responder Day, Pumpkin Patch, Haunted Isle and Santa's Winter Wonderland. Educational special events include Astronomy Night and Photographer Night as well as private charters. The museum holds one adult special event, Ladies Night. Co-sponsored free events include a Bird Watch and a Scout Rail Merit Badge.
Archive and Library Exhibits
Our archival collection consists of over 65,000 historical photographs and hundreds of rail journals, maps and blueprints of electric railways. Along with this, the museum houses hundreds of physical artifacts above and beyond our 'rolling stock' of electric rail cars. Many of these artifacts are one-of-a-kind dating back up to 150 years. The museum's position on these items is one of visibility and sharing through exhibits, local museum exchange borrowing and private research.
Daily Operations
The museum is open weekends in May until Father's Day and again in September. The museum is open daily from Father's Day until Labor Day. We maintain nominal ticket prices of $10/adult and $7/senior and children. Children under 2 years of age, active service members and veterans ride at no charge. We work in conjunction with AAA, Big Y and several other rail museums providing $1 off each admission ticket for their members. Tickets are good all day and include as many rides as the visitor chooses. The typical 'tour' includes a ride in a fully restored antique trolley car along 1.5 miles of the original right of way opened in 1900 followed by a tour of our trolley barns where visitors can view and 'photo op' displayed trolley cars. Our exhibit hall contains some interactive exhibits and is open from 11AM-4PM seasonally. Please visit our website for details.A small museum store is also open during daily operations.
Where we work
Awards
Affiliations & memberships
American Association of Museums 2023
Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce 2023
Greater New Haven Visitors Bureau 2023
Shore Line Chamber of Commerce 2023
New Haven Chamber of Commerce 2023
Heritage Rail Alliance 2023
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Average price of field trip tickets
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
School Charters
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Total number of fields trips
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
School Charters
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn 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?
The Shore Line Trolley Museum is dedicated to preserving and showcasing the history of electric railways while ensuring accessibility for all visitors. This strategic plan outlines the organization's goals and strategies for the next five years. It is comprised of three focus areas (Preserving & Sharing History; Ensuring Accessibility & Improving Infrastructure; and Securing Future Leadership & Financial Stability) and a total of four strategic objectives. Each objective has several elements below it that will serve as the basis for action planning to achieve the strategic goals. In these and all other areas, the museum will strive towards best practices as established by the museum field and by the Shore Line Trolley Museum.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Objective 1: Increase Reach to On-Site and Digital Visitors
Goal: Enrich the visitor experience and expand the organizations reach through compelling exhibits, programs, and collections.
Objective 2: Upgrade Campus for Access and Future
Goal: Enhance the campus to make it fully accessible to all individuals, including those with mobility issues, fostering inclusivity, expanding visitor reach, and preparing for the future.
Objective 3: Transition Board of Trustees to a Governing Body
Goal: Evolve the role of the Board of Trustees to focus on strategic governance, fostering organizational sustainability and growth
Objective 4: Create a Succession Plan for Executive Sta and Board
Goal: Develop a robust succession plan to ensure smooth leadership transitions and sustainable governance.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Develop a curriculum and timeline for exhibiting the collection and the trolley era, ensuring that visitors can be drawn by updated exhibits throughout the Museum. Open additional display space facilitated by current capital plan.
Make tours of the campus more engaging and self-driven, including identifying opportunities for clearer wayfinding and signage.
Convene a task force with a mandate to oversee and execute a modern, visible and effective marketing presence, in consultation with fellow museums. Align with clear, recognizable brand identity for the Museum.
Develop and execute a plan to prioritize and digitize the historical collection, and launch a platform to make this material available to anyone. Collaborate with relevant experts to ensure best practices are followed.
Conduct a comprehensive audit of the campus to identify barriers and areas needing improvement for ADA compliance and general accessibility in collaboration with disability advocacy organizations and community members.
Invest in necessary infrastructure changes, such as ramps, handrails, accessible parking, and restroom facilities. Develop detailed maintenance plan to take facilities beyond installation.
Implement sensory enhancements like audio guides, tactile maps, and Braille signage to cater to visitors with various disabilities.
Anticipate future infrastructure needs to adapt to changes in climate, local development, and cultural landscape and work towards creating a detailed Master Plan to address them.
Conduct a comprehensive review of the organization's governance structure, responsibilities, and decision-making processes.
Redefine the roles and responsibilities of the Board of Trustees to emphasize strategic direction, policy-setting, and oversight.
Clearly define operational management responsibilities to the executive staff, allowing the board to focus on higher-level governance.
Establish clear communication channels between the board and executive staff to ensure alignment and mutual understanding.
Regularly assess the effectiveness of the new governance model and make necessary adjustments to support the Shore Line Trolley Museum's long-term sustainability.
Conduct a thorough assessment of current executive staff and board members' skills, strengths, and areas for development.
Implement targeted leadership development programs for potential successors, offering training in strategic thinking, decision-making, and effective communication.
Establish a mentorship program that pairs experienced leaders with emerging talents to facilitate knowledge transfer and skill development.
Actively identify and engage external candidates and current volunteers who align with the Shore Line Trolley Museum's mission, ensuring a diverse pool of candidates for future leadership roles.
As the museums membership program is a key source of future museum leaders, identify ways to grow and attract new members from diverse backgrounds.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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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, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We share the feedback we received with the people we serve, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time, It is hard to come up with good questions to ask people
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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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.
The Branford Electric Railway Association
Board of directorsas of 12/08/2023
Louis Levinsion
Volunteer
Term: 2023 - 2026
Al Santini
Volunteer
Term: 2023 - 2026
Maxim Diamond
Volunteer/BOT
Tom Laurenson
Volunteer/BOT
Shaelyn Amaio
Volunteer/BOT/Officer
Christopher Mitchell
Volunteer/BOT
Joseph E Deko
Volunteer/BOT/Officer
Dana K Bowers
Volunteer/Corporate Secretary
Kenneth Rosen
Volunteer/Recording Secretary
David Cohen
Volunteer/Officer
Mark Pilletere
Volunteer/Officer
Christopher Mitchell
Volunteer/BOT
Peter Ezzard
Volunteer/BOT
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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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
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 11/02/2021GuideStar 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 ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.