Our situtation in North Bay, Ontario is quite similar to that you have
described.  However, due to the fact that admissions are not a significant
portion of our annual budget we have chosen to use an admission by donation
policy for the past year.

This has worked very well for us and we have actually taken in more money
through donations than in charging admission.  When donations are made they
are usually larger than our admission charge and if the visitor is verbally
reminded we use such an admission policy there is almost always a positive
response.  Furthermore, when no donation is made we have not upset that
potential donor by requiring an admission fee.

With more satisfied people, more money and better attendance this has been
a very positive move for us.

Ed Driedger
North Bay Area Museum

Mark Clayton <[log in to unmask]> wrote in article
<[log in to unmask]>...
> We operate a regional museum and gallery in a city of about 55,000
> people. The region is economically depressed and its inhabitants are,
> for the most part, from the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum.
> This factor, combined with a comparatively low visitation rate, have
> led us to consider doing away altogether with admission charges and
> possibly replacing them, instead, with a donation system.
>
> Staff here feel that donations would probably exceed admissions
> income, although this is more an intuitive rather than a experiential
> assessment. Is anyone out there able to comment on what results we
> might expect, based on their recent experience of having abolished
> admission charges?
>
> Mark Clayton
> Hawke's Bay Cultural Trut
>