I have known museums and other non-profits to have annual members  
meetings. Some are even required as part of their non-profit status.   
I think it ultimately depends on what type of membership program you  
run and how it is related to the museum and/or what your bylaws say on  
the matter.   I would check with your museum's  legal or finance  
advisors on corporate responsibilities. And not everyone votes on  
everything (or anything) at these meetings. They are largely just a  
series of reports of what was done that year, maybe a pro forma vote  
on a budget or some other motion that requires member approval, a  
chance to ask questions of staff and board in a controlled format etc.  
I can't recall any decision ever being made during these meetings.


As for how to conduct them, when I have been involved in member  
business meetings they are mostly social affairs with a business  
meeting before or to the side of the larger event.  Food must be  
served, or no one will show up. (That could be a good thing, who  
knows?)  Entertainment or enrichment activity relative to the mission  
of the museum (lecture, artifacts out of storage, exhibition sneak  
preview, tour of work spaces etc) should be offered.

Glenn is right that few members really care or will show up for the  
business part. But some do and some just like the thought that they  
can if they wanted to and some might just look forward to the  
opportunity to air grievances/compliments in a formal setting.

I don't know if they encourage more or larger donations, but they do  
tend to instill a sense of ownership in the institution which can be  
both a good thing in terms of support and a bad thing in terms of  
nettlesome members with as many ideas as they do free hours in the day  
to share them with you.

Just my 2 cents on a slow day.

Matt


On Mar 17, 2009, at 1:26 PM, Glenn A. Walsh wrote:

> I have never heard of Annual (business) Meetings for members. My gut  
> reaction is that few regular members would attend. Members want to  
> help the museum, but they do not want to spend their time in  
> meetings where they would have little (if anything) to contribute.
>
> As with most museums, Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and  
> Institute of Popular Science (1939 to 1991) had several members'  
> events each year. However, the one annual members' event that always  
> received a huge turnout was at the beginning of November for the  
> annual opening of Buhl's hugely popular Miniature Railroad and  
> Village exhibit:
>
> < http://buhlplanetarium3.tripod.com/MiniRR.htm >
>
> Most members' events included food and drink.
>
> If you feel there is value to members attending an annual business  
> meeting, then I would suggest that you couple that meeting with an  
> annual members' event at the museum.
>
> gaw
>
> Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
> Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
> Electronic Mail - < [log in to unmask] >
> SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
>  < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
> Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
> * Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
>  < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com >
> * Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
>  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
> * Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
>  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
> * Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
>  < http://andrewcarnegie.tripod.com >
> * Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
>  < http://incline.pghfree.net >
> * Public Transit:
>  < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >
>
>
> --- On Tue, 3/17/09, Jennifer Thrailkill <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> From: Jennifer Thrailkill <[log in to unmask]>
>> Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Annual Meetings for Members
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Date: Tuesday, March 17, 2009, 12:14 PM
>> Hi,
>>
>>
>>
>> A few years ago my museum quit holding Annual Meetings for
>> members.  This was before I began my position so I am not
>> sure why they stopped having the meetings.  I wanted to do a
>> little benchmarking so I have a few questions for
>> institutions that still hold these meetings:
>>
>>
>>
>> 1)  What is attendance like at your institution's
>> Annual Meetings?  Is it mainly board members and high level
>> donors attending or do a significant number of general
>> members also attend?
>>
>>
>>
>> 2)  Do you normally provide food and drink for these
>> meetings or hold receptions after the meeting?
>>
>>
>>
>> 3)  Do you feel holding Annual Meetings benefits your
>> institution with increased donations and/or raises awareness
>> of your institution in the community?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks for any help you can give!
>>
>>
>>
>> Jennifer Thrailkill
>>
>> Membership Manager
>>
>> SC State Museum
>
>
>
>
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