Northern States Conservation

What Northern States Conservation does

Northern States Conservation Center (NSCC) is a private Minnesota-based continuing education organization founded in 2004 that delivers professional training to museum professionals worldwide. Its core product is the museumclasses.org online learning platform, which hosts 40+ asynchronous courses spanning collections management and care, exhibit practices and public programs, museum administration and management, and museum facilities management, with a supplementary Museum Certificate Program for credentialed completion. Course pricing is structured as one-time purchases ranging from $99 for short courses to $499 for full courses, with security certification courses (CIPS, CIPM, delivered in partnership with the International Foundation for Cultural Property Protection) priced at $375-$395 and the certificate program at $25.

NSCC operates a self-serve, product-led growth model: individual museum professionals register and pay directly through the company's collectioncare.org e-commerce site and the museumclasses.org LMS, with no subscription tier. The company also monetizes adjacent offerings, including in-person Regional Lectures & Workshops, on-site Site Visits (conservation surveys, emergency planning, collections care planning), Video-Conferencing Workshops, Tools and Supplies (vacuum cleaners, emergency response supplies, artifact labeling kits), and archived publications including the quarterly Collections Caretaker e-newsletter. Marketing is conducted through this newsletter, extensive content marketing on collectioncare.org, and word-of-mouth referrals within the global museum professional community.

The customer base is a horizontal segment of museum professionals (curators, registrars, directors, and other staff) spread across 37 countries and 49 US states, with the company having trained over 1,100 professionals cumulatively. The organization is co-founded by Helen Alten and Tim Huber, operates without disclosed external investors or parent company ownership, and maintains independent, founder-led governance. Strategic posture is best characterized as a stable, content-rich niche educator with limited scale ambitions evident in the data.

Name

Northern States Conservation

Legal name

Northern States Conservation Center

Website

https://collectioncare.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Northern States Conservation Center, founded in 2004 and based in Minnesota, operates the museumclasses.org online learning platform delivering asynchronous continuing education and certification courses to museum professionals in 37 countries, monetized through one-time course fees ($99-$499) and ancillary in-person workshops, supplies, and publications.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Museum Training and Education

NAICS

Museums (712110)

akta.pro primary industry

Museums & Heritage Sites (History, Science, Specialty) (BPAGAHAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

History, Heritage & Museum-Focused Study Tours (THAKAGAN)

Keywords

• Museum training courses
• Museum studies education
• Collections management training
• Museum conservation training
• Online museum classes

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Online Course Sales: One-time fee courses ranging from $99 for short courses to $499 for full courses. Security certification courses priced at $375-$395. Certificate program at $25.
2. Products and Publications: Sale of museum tools, supplies, and publications including vacuum cleaners, emergency response supplies, artifact labeling kits, and archived issues of Collections Caretaker publication.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Northern States Conservation Center sells asynchronous online museum studies training courses and a museum certificate program through its museumclasses.org learning platform, complemented by on-site consulting visits, regional lectures, and video-conferencing workshops. It also sells physical museum tools and supplies (vacuum cleaners, emergency response supplies, artifact labeling kits) and archived publications through its collectioncare.org storefront.

Product overview

Northern States Conservation Center (NSCC) operates a unified online education platform offering professional continuing education in museum studies. The core offering is the Online Museum Training Classes delivered through museumclasses.org, supplemented by in-person Regional Lectures & Workshops, Site Visits, and Video-Conferencing Workshops. The training portfolio spans four main online course categories: Collections Management & Care (including care of specific collections, general collections management, registration/cataloging, and storage), Exhibit Practices & Public Programs (covering exhibit design, mounting, interpretation, and evaluation), Museum Administration & Management (encompassing ethics, volunteer management, fundraising, and strategic planning), and Museum Facilities Management (including preservation environments, security, disaster preparedness, and cleaning). NSCC also offers a Museum Certificate Program for professional credentials, sells Tools and Supplies (vacuum cleaners, emergency response supplies, artifact labeling kits), publishes the Collections Caretaker newsletter and research library resources, and provides fundraising guidance. The company has trained over 1,100 museum professionals across 37 countries and 49 US states.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Online Museum Training Classes Asynchronous professional continuing education courses in museum studies delivered via the museumclasses.org platform, allowing museum professionals worldwide to participate without travel costs.
• Museum Certificate Program Professional credential program allowing participants to earn certificates in museum studies by completing designated coursework through the museumclasses.org platform.
• Regional Lectures & Workshops In-person training workshops delivered regionally for museum meetings and staff training sessions, covering topics such as collections care, materials, box-making, pest management, and emergency planning.
• Site Visits On-site consulting services for museums covering general conservation surveys, emergency planning, collections care planning, and specific object surveys.
• Video-Conferencing Workshops Remote training workshops conducted via video conference for museum staff as an alternative to on-site sessions.
• Tools and Supplies Physical products for collection caretakers including vacuum cleaners, emergency response supplies, and artifact labeling kits.
• Publications Archived issues of the Collections Caretaker newsletter and other NSCC publications covering preservation information for museum professionals.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• International Foundation for Cultural Property Protection (IFCPP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNSCC offers IFCPP certification courses including CIPS (Certified Institutional Protection Specialist) and CIPM (Certified Institutional Protection Manager). Certifications recognized by American Association of Museums (AAM), American Library Association (ALA), and ASIS International. IFCPP certification program is adapted specifically for museumclasses.org students with online video classes and quizzes.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Coursera: Large-scale MOOC platform offering museum-, heritage-, and arts-related courses from universities worldwide. Broad incumbent that competes for online museum professional learning dollars but without the niche museum focus.
• LinkedIn Learning: Subscription-based online learning platform serving professionals including museum and nonprofit managers. Broad incumbent with overlapping professional development content delivered via subscription rather than à la carte.

Direct peers

• International Council of Museums (ICOM): Global museum professional organization providing training resources, standards, and educational programming. Comparable international reach and audience to NSCC's museum professional learner base.
• American Alliance of Museums (AAM): National museum professional association that runs accreditation programs and continuing education for museum staff. Directly comparable to NSCC as a provider of museum professional development, and a recognition body for NSCC's IFCPP certifications.
• Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts (CCAHA): Nonprofit conservation center providing continuing education workshops and treatment services to cultural heritage professionals. Directly overlaps with NSCC's collections care training and site visit offerings.
• ICCROM (International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property): Intergovernmental organization delivering training programs in conservation and heritage preservation globally. Comparable audience of museum and heritage professionals and overlapping curriculum topics.
• American Institute for Conservation (AIC): Professional association for conservators offering workshops, publications, and credentialing. Overlaps directly with NSCC's collections care and conservation training portfolio.
• International Foundation for Cultural Property Protection (IFCPP): Certification body that delivers the CIPS and CIPM credentials distributed through NSCC's museumclasses.org platform. Direct partner and adjacent training provider to the same museum security audience.

Emerging players

• University of Leicester — School of Museum Studies: Leading university-based museum studies program offering degrees and short courses online. Comparable subject matter but academic-degree model rather than micro-paid course model like NSCC.
• Johns Hopkins University — Museum Studies Program: Online master's and certificate program in museum studies targeting working professionals. Comparable audience and online delivery, but credentialed university model competing for the same continuing-education spend.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/northern-states-conservation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Northern States Conservation