在美国,博物馆属于非营利组织,以公益为存在目的。教育是其主要的基本职能。其目标在于如何实现其使命,通常会有一套社会导向的准则在描述组织如何令公众受益。关于博物馆的定义有很多,其中国际博物馆协会(The International Council on Museums,ICOM)将博物馆定义为:“一个非营利的永久性机构,服务于社会、服务于自身发展,向公众开放,以研究、教育、娱乐为目的,获取、保存、研究、传达和展览人类及其环境 In the United States, the museum belongs to a non-profit organization that exists for the purpose of public welfare. Education is its primary function. The goal is how to fulfill its mission, often with a set of socially-driven norms that describe how the organization benefits the public. There are many definitions of museums, of which the International Council on Museums (ICOM) defines museums as: ”A non-profit, permanent institution that serves the community, serves its own development, is open to the public to study , Education, entertainment for the purpose of obtaining, preserving, researching, communicating and exhibiting human beings and their environment