I was faced with a similar "membership" structure when I got here almost 6
years ago and one of the first things I did was separate out actual
membership fees ($25 for individuals, $40 for families) with their benefits,
which are pretty much the same as Katie's (although I do also emphasize the
"warm and fuzzy feeling" members get) from "additional donation", which is
100% tax deductable. [As a side note, the actual value of the membership
does fall below any IRS minimum, since shop discounts are not considered
benefits, the newsletter is available free at the Museum and we have a
"suggested donation" instead of an actual entrance fee.]
One of the things that sent me in this direction was a flyer I got from a
museum that had tried to assign different benefits to different membership
levels and had ended up with things like "the curator will answer your
request for information" and other things that weren't really of much value
and would probably be done for a member of the general public if they asked.
I, too, feel unhappy with the idea of giving away memberships, so I put our
donors on our complimentary mailing list. This year I am planning to send
a letter to those on this list similar to our membership letter, suggesting
that they join to support the Museum. If not, we'll still send the
newsletter though.
janice
Janice Klein
Director, Mitchell Museum of the American Indian
[log in to unmask]
www.mitchellmuseum.org
-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Katie Anderson
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2005 4:13 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: membership vs. donations
Our museum is an 8 year old, small local history museum with less than 10k
visitors each year. We have 228 active members.
Recently we have had some problems with how revenue is counted. Our
membership levels are:
$10 student
$25 Senior
$30 single
$35 family
$100 patron
$500 Bronze
$1,000 Silver
$2,500 Gold
$5,000 Platinum
$10,000 Corporate
$25,000 Sustaining
These membership levels have been in place for many years. We just had
our first membership drive spearheaded by a board member. The board member
thought we would get more money if we raised our membership rate so she sent
out a membership application with a $50 membership (which did not exist
before) as the minimum. But we were still using the old form at the museum.
Needless to say, these caused some confusion among our members and staff.
Benefits of membership are: free admission, invitation to members-only
events, 10% at shop, and our newsletter (which goes out to just about
everyone anyway). These benefits pertain to every level. We're a small
museum and there is not much more we can offer in the form of benefits to
cover so many different levels.
Now some board members want to give automatic memberships to donors. I'm
not completely comfortable with this idea. Not everyone wants to be a
member. They know the same level of support will be asked of them again the
next year. Just seems like we should not assume. Also, it seems like we
are missing an opportunity to have them legitimately in both categories as a
member and as a donor.
Here's my question: Isn't it important to keep these categories distinct?
Thanks,
Katie
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Katie Anderson
Museum Director
Rome Area History Museum
305 Broad Street
Rome, GA 30161
706-235-8051
cell 678-908-7751
fax 706-235-6631
[log in to unmask]
www.RomeHistoryMuseum.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
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A new exhibit highlighting the efforts on the home front during WWII is
now open at the Rome Area History Museum. "World War II: The Home Front"
contains photos and artifacts from the 1940s that tell the story of this
transformational time. A video containing clips of oral history interviews
with local WWII veterans and civilians is on view in the exhibit.
As a partner of the Library of Congress Veterans History Project, we are
coordinating an oral history project with World War II veterans and
civilians in northwest Georgia. It is vital that we preserve these stories.
Please contact the Museum to schedule interviews.
The oral history project and exhibit are supported in part by a grant from
the Georgia Humanities Council.
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