I think part of the answer depends on how much your community as a whole values your public programs.
 
If your public programs are popular and well-attended, then free or reduced admission to the programs will be seen as a valuable member benefit. In this situation you may have people who join and stay members to get access to the popular public programs.
 
The question that is at the heart of your inquiry is - why are our members joining and renewing?
 
My institution is a bit different - we have a significant portion of  membership who join to support our historic preservation advocacy efforts, and never attend our public programs - yet they consistently renew.
 
We keep free or reduced participation as a benefit, there are plenty of members who do use it, especially for our sell-out events (annual house tour for example.) I don't think we'd ever remove that benefit. We plan our budgets assuming income from the member rate of admission.
 
Are you considering adding this benefit or removing it?
 

Cindy Boyer

Director of Museums and Education

The Landmark Society of Western New York

Rochester, NY

(585) 546-7029 x12

[log in to unmask]

 

www.landmarksociety.org

 

The Landmark Society of Western New York

1937-2007  - Serving for 70 years!

 

Our mission is to discover, protect, and revitalize

the architectural and related cultural heritage

of the Rochester region, and to educate and

inform our community about that heritage.

 


From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jennifer Thrailkill
Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2007 3:51 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Membership and Museum Programming

Hello All,
 
I am the Membership Manager for the South Carolina State Museum and I am currently working on my business plan for the upcoming fiscal year.  I was wondering if you would mind answering two quick questions regarding the relationship between your membership base and your public programming: 
 
1)  Do you find that a large portion of participants in your public programs are members?
 
2)  Do you think the benefit of participating in museum programming for free (or a reduced rate) is an important factor in getting members to renew their membership?
 
 
Any info you can provide will be much appreciated!
 
 
Thanks,
 
Jennifer Thrailkill
Membership Manager
South Carolina State Museum Foundation
P.O. Box 11442
Columbia, SC 29211
 
803.898.4937 (office)
803.898.4956 (fax)
[log in to unmask]
www.museum.state.sc.us

Recharge--play some free games. Win cool prizes too! Play It! ========================================================= 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).

========================================================= 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).