Ownership, Funding & Organizational Transparency
Last reviewed: September 2026
Hands-on Heritage believes readers and clients should understand who is responsible for the organization and how its work is supported.
This page provides information about our ownership, business funding, client relationships, and staffing practices.
Ownership
Hands-on Heritage is an independently owned professional communications and consulting business operated by Robin Van Auken as a sole proprietorship. Hands-on Heritage is a registered fictitious business name used by Robin Van Auken.
Robin Van Auken, MA, RPA, founded Hands-on Heritage and serves as its CEO and lead researcher, writer, and content developer.
The company works with additional researchers, writers, specialists, and consultants as needed for individual projects.
How Hands-on Heritage Is Funded
Hands-on Heritage is primarily supported through revenue earned from professional services provided to clients.
Services may include:
- research and writing;
- museum and exhibit content development;
- cultural-heritage projects;
- grant research and development;
- project management;
- oral history;
- historical research;
- corporate and organizational histories;
- digital storytelling;
- communications consulting; and
- related professional services.
Grants and Grant-Funded Projects
Hands-on Heritage provides professional grant research, development, and submission services to clients seeking foundation, local, state, and federal funding.
Grant funding obtained by a client belongs to and is administered according to the requirements applicable to that client and its award. In some circumstances, professional services provided by Hands-on Heritage or other consultants may be an eligible project expense under a client’s grant-funded project.
A client’s receipt of grant funding does not give the grantmaker editorial control over Hands-on Heritage’s independent website content unless a particular sponsored or funded activity explicitly provides otherwise.
Hands-on Heritage does not guarantee that a grant application will be funded.
Clients, Sponsors and Conflicts of Interest
Hands-on Heritage works with government agencies, corporations, nonprofit organizations, associations, educational institutions, museums, designers and other professional partners.
Some organizations discussed on this website may also be current or former clients, collaborators, or project partners.
Where a financial or professional relationship could reasonably affect a reader’s interpretation of independently published editorial content, we support appropriate disclosure of that relationship.
Client relationships do not authorize Hands-on Heritage to knowingly publish false or misleading information.
Independence
Hands-on Heritage is responsible for the editorial policies governing its own website.
Materials created under contract for museums, agencies, corporations, nonprofit organizations, or other clients may be subject to the client’s own editorial review, institutional policies, funding requirements, and final approval.
Staffing and Collaboration
Hands-on Heritage operates as a small, owner-led professional practice and assembles researchers, writers, specialists and collaborators according to project requirements.
Our website identifies members and collaborators whose backgrounds include research, journalism, communications, museum work and other professional disciplines.
Diversity in Staffing and Professional Collaboration
Hands-on Heritage values professional teams that bring different experiences, disciplines, perspectives, and areas of expertise to a project.
When selecting employees, independent contractors, writers, researchers, and project collaborators, Hands-on Heritage seeks qualified professionals who can contribute constructively to the work and serve the needs of our clients and audiences.
We support fair consideration without discrimination based on characteristics protected by applicable law.
Because Hands-on Heritage is a small professional practice whose staffing and project teams may change according to individual assignments, we do not currently publish statistical demographic reports about individual team members. We believe personal demographic information should not be inferred or publicly reported without an appropriate reason and reliable information.
Our commitment instead is to maintain equitable professional practices and to seek the expertise, perspectives, and lived knowledge appropriate to the subjects and communities represented by our projects.
Questions About Ownership or Funding
Questions regarding Hands-on Heritage’s ownership, funding relationships, or organizational policies may be submitted through our website Contact page.