Preserving Our History For Our Future Through Technology

MICROSOFT SHOW YOUR IMPACT CONTEST

The Mountain Home Historical Society is a nonprofit organization supporting the city of Mountain Home, Idaho. We serve a population of over 20,000 to include the city, Mountain Home Air Force Base and surrounding cities within the county. Our member mailing list reaches 325 locally and nationwide. We are the only museum with a Preservation Director in Elmore County. We serve the public year around by being open six days a week with regular business hours, 10-4 weekdays and 12-4 on Saturdays.

Idaho communities count on their nonprofits to be partners in public service, educating our youth, offering arts and cultural events and serving as vehicles to our citizens. In today’s economy the nonprofit sector is challenged to meet the needs of their communities. Microsoft’s support in the nonprofit sector offers us professional tools to serve the variety of missions and budget demands.

Since 2006, we have used Microsoft Office Publisher, which includes Office Pro Applications and Suites, in all aspects of our daily operations and programs. Our mission is to preserve and promote activities that encourage appreciation for the history of Mountain Home and Elmore County, Idaho. This software enhances our programs by saving us time and providing us more efficient and professional products. The two areas most impacted by Microsoft technologies are enhanced quality of services, campaigns or programs, and increased reach or impact of services, campaigns or programs as a result of more effective marketing, fundraising or educational outreach.

Enhanced quality of services, campaigns or programs:

Publications. Fifty one oral histories from our First Thursday presentations are published in four volumes of “Conversations with History”. These personal stories are not only entertaining, but also document individual life experiences of history full of integrity and strength, much of what our community was built upon. These family histories of local area people are exclusive to the museum’s quest to preserve family histories for future generations. Our Microsoft Office Publisher supports our publications: “Short History of the Beginning of Mountain Home,” Annual Historical Calendar, “Glimpse of Early Elmore County,” “Buckaroo Bill Tate,” and “POW Story by Art Isaac,” to name a few. We also publish historical cookbooks, calendars, postcards, and note cards for sale. All of which have generated the funding for our museum’s operational budget. These in-house designed products have definitely advanced our professional standing in the competitive publication market.

Campaigns. Using our Microsoft software, we produce all our advertising, brochures, pamphlets, posters, placemats, and decorations for our community events, such as, our Annual Women’s History Banquet, Annual Membership Drives, Annual Pie Socials, and Annual Victorian Christmas Teas, workshops, etc. Because we utilize our Microsoft software, our presentations have been more effective in supporting our mission and have allowed us to increase our impact of services through more effective presentations. All our events are developed to educate while entertaining the community with local history.

Increased reach or impact of services, campaigns or programs as a result of more effective marketing, fundraising or educational outreach:

Educational Outreach. Unique to ‘leaving the museum doors,’ is our Traveling Trunk of Oregon Trail items. This program takes history to the classrooms in both the Mountain Home and the Mountain Home Air Force Base school systems. With retired teachers volunteering their time, they have used items in the trunk to bring history alive to more than 150 fourth graders. The Oregon Trail and stage coach route went through Elmore County just north of Mountain Home putting this history in our own backyard. Using Microsoft Office Publisher, we develop educational materials, such as, brochures, posters, and coloring books for the students. Additionally, Home School students and scout groups have visited the museum to experience the Traveling Trunk program. The Idaho Historical Society has praised this innovative educational program for the students in Idaho history by advertising their support on their webpage. Published and printed onsite by our volunteers, all our books are a great source of educational material for all our students during research.

Marketing/Fund Raising. We use our Microsoft software exclusively to advertise and market museum events and publications. In addition, we use our software for various advertising tools when staging of events, requesting endorsements, highlighting sponsorships, and budget presentations. Excel spreadsheets are used daily to track the museum’s revenue and expenses, as well as, maintaining membership status. We publish our bi-monthly museum newsletter using Microsoft Publisher. The newsletter is instrumental in keeping our members informed and involved in the museum’s activities and upcoming events. We offer additional pages to other historical societies within our county and statewide to further the awareness of Idaho history. Newsletters are mailed not only to our members, but also to local businesses, and community and state elected officials. By promoting our publications both locally and out of state, we encourage the appreciation for history. The software also allows us to highlight historical pictures to enhance local writers’ accounts giving us a professional looking format in our articles.

Nonprofits are making intelligent choices to reduce expenses and manage programs more efficiently while increasing focus on our missions. Using Microsoft Office Publisher has definitely increased the professionalism of Mountain Home Historical Society’s products and services to our members and the community we serve. In turn, it has increased our professional image as an organization to our servicing population and historical counterparts.