FOCoS

What is FOCoS?

Free On-site Consultation Service (FOCoS) is offered by NCMC to up to two qualifying museums each year. FOCoS provides advice and guidance to small or emerging museums using the resources and expertise found in established museums around the state. As a result of FOCoS, not only do museums receive valuable feedback on their programs and operations, but the museum community and council are strengthened through the collaborative effort of professionals reaching out to share their knowledge of the field.

A two-person team of NCMC consultants is assigned to a selected qualifying site. Consultants visit and tour their assigned site over a two-day period and together offer professional advice, in the form of a written report, relating to needs specified as priorities by the recipient site.

What areas of consulting are offered?

Sites can obtain free consultations in two of the following topic areas:

Who can apply?

Any institution may apply for consideration, however, partiality in selections will be given to those facilities with fewer financial resources-generally with an operating budget under $100,000.

Do I have to be an NCMC member to apply?

Individual or institutional membership in NCMC is not a requirement for applicants. While enlisting new members is an ongoing objective of NCMC's work, the overriding mission of FOCoS is to help small institutions, regardless of whether or not they are affiliated with NCMC.

Who do I contact?

FOCoS will be administered through NCMC's vice president, working in cooperation with the chairs of Membership Development and Professional Development. If you are interested in serving as a consultant, or would like to receive a visit from FOCoS consultants, please contact NCMC's Vice President.

How do I apply?

The current cycle for FOCoS applications closed on March 6, 2020. The chosen recipient organization will be announced during the NCMC annual conference in Rocky Mount, March 28-30, 2020.  We plan to start accepting applications for our next FOCoS cycle starting in early summer 2020.

Please note that applications can be created by staff or volunteers at a museum or site, but must be finalized, reviewed and signed by the director or site representative of the applicant organization. The director or site representative is then the direct contact for all interactions involving the FOCoS program.

For more information, contact NCMC's Vice President.

Application for Focus

Some Recent Recipient Institutions

Could your institution be next?

2019 – Iredell Museums

2018 – The Museum of the Waxhaws

2017 – The Milton Renaissance Foundation

2017 – Scotland County Historic Properties Commission

2016 – Swansboro Heritage Society

2015 – Asheville History Center

2012 – Korner’s Folly 

2012 – Rockingham County Historical Society Museum and Archives

2011 – Penderlea Homestead Museum

2011 – St. Paul Museum / North Randolph Historical Society

2010 – Orange County Historical Museum

2010 – Robeson County History Museum

2009 – Kannapolis History Associates

2009 – Hamlet Historic Depot Museum