Another great way to encourage donations is a really good and succinct sign or display that gives visitors a handful of bullet points about all the really important work you do and how much preserving and sharing your collections demands in terms of resources.  A really good sign like that, which you can read quickly, rather than just “suggested donation” and an amount can be a lot more impactful.  Hopefully that tugs on both heart strings and people’s sense of reason (this stuff doesn’t magically happen for free, right?) and will bring in more than just charging admission.



Jodi Lundgren



From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sean Blinn

Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2015 10:54 AM

To: [log in to unmask]

Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] free admission



Our historic site never charged admission, except for fundraisers. About a year and a half ago we started charging $10 for special program events. I didn’t see much change in admission numbers for those special programs; the numbers depended more on whether people thought the program was interesting. We also had fewer people sign up for a free ticket and then not come to the event. We received no negative feedback about adding a charge for special programs.



I would think eliminating admissions fees might depend on how much you charge, your location (if you’re in an area that’s hard to get to, eliminating fees may not bring people in), and other factors. And, of course, how much of your revenue comes from admission fees and whether you can afford this experiment.



On Mar 4, 2015, at 11:53 AM, Mary Helen Dellinger <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:



Our small local history museum is considering dropping our admission charge at the start of the new fiscal year.  I am looking for feedback from those of you that have always offered free admission, or any institution that once charged but then switched to free.  How has this helped your admission numbers?  What was the feedback you got from your community?  Do you regret it?  How did you roll out the change?  Thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions you are willing to offer.



Mary Helen Dellinger, Curator

Manassas Museum

9101 Prince William Street

Manassas, VA 20110



Please "like" us at the City's Facebook page to hear the latest news and events!

 City of Manassas Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=509276472472269&id=382140808519170&notif_t=notify_me>







________________________________

To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link:

http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-HOME.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1





________________________________



To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link:

http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-HOME.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1



=========================================================

Important Subscriber Information:



The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).



If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).