About Heritage Consulting Inc Consulting company in Philadelphia, United States
Donna#39;s 2007 book titled
New Solutions for House Museums is called a ’best selling classic’ by A.A.S.L.H. The book is available as an e-book for all types of e-readers.
Donna Ann Harris is the principal of Heritage Consulting Inc. a Philadelphia-based certified WBE consulting firm in NJ DE and PA that works nationwide providing training research coaching and consulting services on historic preservation audience development volunteer management heritage tourism program planning and organizational development issues for historic sites downtowns and communiity organizations. See her current vita here.
Prior to starting her firm 15 years ago Ms. Harris was State Coordinator for the Illinois Main Street program for two years and the manager of the Illinois suburban Main Street program for four years. During her tenure as State Coordinator Ms. Harris served 56 Illinois Main Street communities led a staff of 12 and managed a budget of $1.1 million dollars.
Since 2002 Ms. Harris has worked with state countywide and local Main Street programs in 23 states. She has made 18 presentations at the National Main Street Center annual conference in the last 11 years and at the International Downtown Association annual meetings in 2019 2018 2013 2009 and 2008. Ms. Harris has published six feature articles in the National Main Street Centers quarterly journal Main Street Now: ’A Bakers Dozen: Thirteen Myths about Main Street Boards’ (Winter 2015); ’Illinois Main Street Back on Track: Case Studies’ (July/August 2012); ’Make Your Case: Triple Your Membership’ (September/October 2010); Make More Money from Members (August 2008); ’Is a BID Feasible for Your Town? Ten Questions to Ponder’ (April 2007) and ’A Valiant Effort’ and ’What You Can Do Lessons From Illinois Main Street’ (January 2005). Ms. Harris is an active contributor to the Main Street Centers blog Main Street Weekly and recorded a webinar for the National Main Street Center in September 2015 on Year-End Giving. Ms. Harris was a featured instructor at the new Main Street America Institute and spoke on Comprehensive Revenue Strategies in March 2016 and again in March 2017.
Prior to her Main Street career Ms. Harris spent 15 years as an executive director of three start-ups and two mature historic preservation organizations. During these positions in New Jersey Pennsylvania and Illinois she began membership drives lead strategic planning efforts organized conferences public relations efforts and led a capital campaign to purchase an open space parcel. Ms. Harris raised more than $3.75 million in grants and sponsorship dollars in her early career. During this period she managing staffs ranging in size from two to eight and was responsible for organizational project and endowment budgets of up to $2.6 million.
As a preservation planner with more than 35 years of professional experience Ms. Harris has assisted citizen groups and government agencies in identifying appropriate reuses for threatened historic properties to ensure the long-term preservation and maintenance of the site. In the past fifteen years Ms. Harris has spoken about and consulted with historic house museums around the country alternative uses and stewardship responsibilities. Ms. Harris provides reuse plans feasibility studies case studies and business plans for program expansion reuse or repurposing of historic sites and house museums for clients nationwide.
AltaMira Press published her book New Solutions for House Museums: Ensuring the Long-Term Preservation of Americas Historic Houses in 2007. A second edition was published in November 2020 by Rowman amp; Littlefield Publishers/AASLH. Ms. Harris has published articles about reuse of historic house museums in History News the quarterly magazine of the American Association for State and Local History and Forum Journal the quarterly journal of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In the past ten years Ms. Harris has spoken at more than 35 national regional and statewide conferences about her house museum research. Ms. Harris will publish a chapter The Essential Role of the Board in Reimagining Historic House Museums in the upcoming book Reimagining Historic House Museums: New Approaches and Proven Solutions edited by Kenneth Turino and Max van Balgooy. The book was published by Rowman amp; Littlefield Publishers/AASLH in 2019.
Noteworthy recent historic preservation projects include:
For the last ten years Heritage Consulting Inc. has undertaken heritage tourism assessments and plans. The major work product for the Camden County History Alliance was a year long Heritage Tourism Plan and nine day event Camden County History Week. We produced heritage tourism assessments for the Olde Stone House Village in Washington Township NJ the Glover Fulling Mill Park in Haddon Heights NJ; the Jacobus Vanderveer House in Bedminster NJ; St. Marys Episcopal Church in Burlington NJ; Jacobs Chapel and Colemantown Meeting House in Mt. Laurel NJ; Woodbridge Township NJ; Barrow Mansion Development Corporation in Jersey City NJ and for Main Street Lansing IA.
Heritage Consulting Inc. has conducted audience research projects (surveys focus groups interviews) for preservation organizations including Camden County History Alliance the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia Delaware County (PA) Planning Commission Preservation New Jersey Wyck in Philadelphia and the Whitesbog Preservation Trust NJ.
Heritage Consulting Inc. has conducted and created reports on extensive consumer and stakeholder surveys for downtown revitalization clients such as the Siloam Springs Main Street in AR the Ardmore Initative in Ardmore PA the Metuchen Downtown Alliance NJ a second strategic plan for the Roxbrough Development Corporation in Philadelphia AP a second strategic plan for the Tacony CDC in Philadalphia PA Lawrenceville NJ Main Street Downtown West Orange NJ Alliance Roxborough Development Corporation in Philadelphia PA Main Street Vineland NJ Montclair Center NJ Howell Main Street DDA in Michigan Ortonville DDA in Ortonville MI and the Downtown Somerville Alliance NJ.
Heritage Consulting Inc. has completed strategic plans for 18 clients includinng 12 for Main Street New Jersey communities as well as for downtown clients in IL MI AR and Philadelphia PA.
Ms. Harris has presented workshops on a variety of fundraising and board management topics at national and state Main Street conferences for the last twenty years.
Ms. Harris earned a Master of Science degree in Historic Preservation from Columbia University in New York City and a Master of Public Administration degree from the Fels Center of Government at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She holds a BA in both American Studies and Art History from the State University of New York at Albany. Ms. Harris is a Certified Main Street Manager a credential from the National Main Street Center. Ms. Harris experience meets and exceeds the minimum professional qualifications defined in the Code of Federal Regulations (36 CFR 61 Appendix A) for an architectural historian.
See Ms. Harris#39; complete vita here. Updated November 2020
