Over the next 3 to 5 years the Children's Museum of Richmond wants to provide programming and support to families in the Central Virginia Area. The Children's Museum of Richmond normally works with children ages 0 to 8 and their caregivers but also provides programming for older children as well.
1) Play a meaningful role in improving Kindergarten readiness for the area's under-resourced children
2) Be the first source for important early childhood information for parents/ caregivers
3) Encourage the use of learning through play in tandem with traditional classroom learning
4) Educate the public on childhood development
5) Encourage literacy by distributing books from the Central Virginia Children's Book Bank to under-served children
6) Educate older children on the importance of philanthropy and the non-profit community
7) Provide a safe environment for children to play

The Children's Museum of Richmond has a number of strategies it has implemented to meet its goals.
1) CMoR merged with Commonwealth Parenting to provide important information on parenting. Commonwealth Parenting offers free parenting classes to under-resourced families, speaking engagements from renowned childhood development experts, and demonstrations free of charge in the museum facility.
2) CMoR took charge of the Central Virginia Children's Book Bank. The book bank hands out new and like-new books to under-resourced children. They are delivered directly to children at school and given out to all scholarship field trips.
3) CMoR began the Junior Intern Program to introduce high school students to the importance of philanthropy. Junior Interns are given a college scholarship after completing volunteer hours as well as attending training sessions on non-profits.
4) CMoR provides scholarship memberships as well as scholarship field trips so all children have a chance to learn through play. CMoR has strong partnerships with local community partners and schools to help distribute the available services.
5) CMoR has created a mobile app with the Carmax Foundation to help prepare children' for kindergarten. In addition, CMoR hosts a kindergarten readiness program for local preschools as well as a kindergarten kick off event.
6) CMoR provides exhibits which are designed to encourage learning in unconventional ways.

The Children's Museum of Richmond has a number of deep partnerships which will help the museum meet its long term goals. The museum created an Education Advisory council made up of education experts as well as local superintendents to advise the Children's Museum of Richmond. The museum works with community partners like the YWCA, Peter Paul Development Center, William Byrd Community House, the Boys and Girls Club, and Partnership for Families Northside. The Children's Museum of Richmond works with the Math Science Innovation Center to develop unique programming and exhibits. The Children's Museum of Richmond is partnered with Venture Richmond for the folk festival and helps with many other local attractions.

The museum operates on a $4 million budget with 70% of its income coming from earned revenue and the remaining 30% contributed. The museum has a full time staff of 30 and a part time staff of 23. Staff is trained to interact with children and guests. Key staff members include: President and CEO Karen Coltrane, Vice President of Mission Meredith Screeney, Vice President of Finance and Marketing Lisa Hailey, and Director of Parent Engagement Liz Pearce.

The Children's Museum of Richmond has four locations in Richmond, Chesterfield, Henrico, and Fredericksburg. By expanding the number of locations, the museum has been able to serve even more children in Virginia.

The Children's Museum of Richmond uses a number of quantitative and qualitative measures to determine its success in the community. The Children's Museum of Richmond tracks the number of visitors who attend any of the museum's four locations and any of the museum's offsite events. In addition, the museum tracks the number of books given to under-resourced children as well as all scholarship visits. Currently, half of the museum's visitors attend at a free or reduced price and the museum has given away over 75,000 books.

In order to make sure the Children's Museum of Richmond is consistently providing exceptional educational benefits to children, the museum regularly has professional educators answer surveys critiquing museum exhibits and programming. The museum also uses pre and post tests for some of its programming to ensure all its programming is effective.

The Children's Museum of Richmond has made great progress toward reaching our goals. 25% of the museum's attendance came at a free or reduced rate. The Central Virginia Children's Book Bank has increased the number of books distributed each year. At the current rate of distibution, the museum hopes to deliver over 35,000 books this year. The museum gave out $20,000 in scholarships to over 20 high school students who participated in the Junior Intern Program. To receive a scholaship the students must volunteer for over 350 hours in a year and attend monthly classes about different aspects of non-profits. Commonweath Parenting regularly offers parenting classes at different locations throughout Central Virginia.