The question of whether and to what extent quantitative indicators of effectiveness and efficiency might provide useful information to those who manage or make grants to museums was first raised in the early 1970s In the two decades since, it has attracted growing interest, particularly in the , the United Kingdom and Australia. Only since 1990 or so, however, has there been an internationally coordinated effort to examine the potential use of such indicators in any greater depth.

That effort took a major step forward in June 1993 when performance indicators - together with a number of related diagnostic tools that might potentially be generated from the measurable or quantifiable aspects of a museum's operations - were the subject of a three day management institute for senior museum professionals held at the Wintergreen Resort in Wintergreen, Virginia. The Institute - Measures of Success: Accountability Systems for Museums - was a collaboration of the Virginia Association of Museums (VAM) and the University of Virginia, Division of Continuing Education (UVA). It was supported in part by the Institute for Museum Services, a federal granting agency.

Giving particular timeliness to the proceedings at Wintergreen was the recognition that the public has become increasingly concerned about the manner in which nonprofit organizations are being operated. Repeated newspaper accounts of disproportionately high administrative expenses, including excessive executive compensation and perks, deceptive fund-raising practices, and questionable conflict of interest transactions have all combined to undercut the esteem in which such organizations have long been held. Some have called the current situation a crisis of credibility. Museums - like many other nonprofits - are today under pressure to provide a greater quantity of hard data about the ways in which their resources are being used and in what measure their stated program goals are actually being met.