Hello Pat,

In regard to your second question, about admissions:

In our area, perhaps because of the popularity of several very
high-profile museums in our area that charge a pretty stiff admission
fee, it seems that people didn't really mind too much.  When we started
charging a modest admission we may have lost perhaps 5% visitation.  I
even get the impression that because people see 'valuable' museums
charging,  the admission fee becomes almost an indicator of value.
(That's purely my own gut-level observation, though.)

I do think, realistically, an admission amount has to be relative in
relation to number and quality of exhibits, and perhaps some other
esoteric factors that will vary from museum to museum. (How famous was
the Historic House's occupants, for instance.)

Also, because we were very concerned about reducing our availability to
families with kids, we tried a 'gimick' that seemed to work fairly
well   When children came in, whether in groups or with family, they got
a 'junior membership' for the price of admission (50 cents), which then
allowed them to visit free for a year if they came back with an adult.
The idea was that by the kid getting in free, the adult would be more
likely to come and then we'd get the more valuable adult admission., and
families would be likely to come back more often.  At minimum, having
the kid get home with their 'membership card' in hand was good
advertising to the parents and created good will.  The only bookkeeping
involved was to have the kid write their name in a log book and give
them the little card.  (One could take it a step farther and get
addresses to use for mail marketing.)  Unfortunately, the museum was
closed a couple of years later in tax-limitation measure budget cuts, so
we didn't really get a chance to observe long term effects,  but I
suspect that it would have made the kids feel more 'connected' with the
museum and resulted in more visits over time.

I'm also a fan of a 'free Thursday' system.  That seems to help the
museum serve all the community, not just those with means.  That should
be especially important in a place where there are a lot of people in
lower income brackets or without income, though I believe that there are
such people everywhere,  and even if there were only one, they still
should to be able to use the museum.

Lucy Skjelstad

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