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Date: | Wed, 15 Dec 2010 10:31:19 -0600 |
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Thanks for your response Heather- you make some good points. I agree that
an institution that receives a lot of public funding (like your museum or
the Smithsonian) may choose not to charge admission. The particular museum
I am dealing with gets very little public funding (less than 5% of the
budget- and over half of *that* from federal grant programs) so I don't
think charging admission would be asking people to "pay twice". There are
other "free" museums/gardens/historic sites in the area, so competition may
be an issue, but there are also plenty of places around here that charge a
modest (up to $5) admission.
You may be right about the "percieved value" argument. That's something
that gets thrown around a lot as though it is fact, but I guess I have never
heard any real evidence to back it up.
On Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 10:05 AM, Heather McClenahan <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> We do not charge admission for two reason: 1) Your tax dollars at work.
> About a third of our operating budget is supplied by our county government,
> and we don't think residents ought to pay us twice. 2) The science museum
> two blocks away from us is run by Los Alamos National Laboratory. Since it
> is also a taxpayer-funded institution, it doesn't charge admission. There's
> no way we could "compete."
>
> When it comes to museums, I don't buy the "perceived value of the
> experience" argument. The Smithsonian doesn't charge admission, and how can
> you get a better museum experience than that?
>
> Heather McClenahan, assistant museum director
> Los Alamos Historical Society
> http://www.losalamoshistory.org
> [log in to unmask]
> PO Box 43
> 1050 Bathtub Row
> Los Alamos, NM 87544
> 505-662-6272 (office)
> 505-470-2912 (cell)
>
> Quoting Casandra Karl <[log in to unmask]>:
>
> Hello all!
>>
>> I recently had a discussion with the Director of a small local historical
>> museum regarding the pros and cons of charging an admission fee to museum
>> visitors (she casually asked for my opinion and it turned into a *huge*
>> discussion). She argued that charging admission would reduce visitorship
>> and not really generate much income anyway (I actually agree with the
>> second point somewhat). I argued that charging a small amount (say $2)
>> would increase the perceived value of the experience and give the museum a
>> bargaining chip by offering "free admission" to members or for special days
>> or events.
>>
>> Does your museum charge admission? What factors influenced the decision
>> of whether or not to charge admission at your institution? If you can cite
>> evidence/resources to back-up your position, that would be helpful as well.
>>
>> Thank you.
>>
>> -Cass
>>
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