Eligibility Criteria

Approved by the Accreditation Commission on December 3, 2004; effective January 1, 2005.

To participate in the Alliance's Accreditation Program, a museum must:

• be a legally organized nonprofit institution or part of a nonprofit organization or government entity.

• be essentially educational in nature.

• have a formally stated and approved mission.

• use and interpret objects and/or a site for the public presentation of regularly scheduled programs and exhibits.

• have a formal and appropriate program of documentation, care, and use of collections and/or objects.

• carry out the above functions primarily at a physical facility/site.

• have been open to the public for at least two years.

• be open to the public at least 1,000 hours a year.

• have accessioned 80 percent of its permanent collection.

• have at least one paid professional staff with museum knowledge and experience.

• have a full-time director to whom authority is delegated for day-to-day operations.

• have the financial resources sufficient to operate effectively.

• demonstrate it meets the Characteristics of Excellence for U.S. Museums.

• successfully completed the Core Documents Verification Program.