The Kern County Museum in Bakersfield generously supported all such requests for years, to include gift baskets at certain events with store merchandise, and always with passes for general admission, or sometimes special events with unlimited attendance.  We found very few of the passes were ever used, however the good will with the schools and organizations seemed valuable, given the nice thank you letters we received. 

 

As a result of the experiment, we designed and printed full color business card size "passes" good for one free regular admission, not good for special events.  These were really inexpensive off the Internet.  They match our brochure, and we pop that with two to four passes in the mail to anyone asking for a donation.  On the back is a line where we put the name of the organization or event getting the passes.  That way we can track which ones come back. We require a written request which we save with a notation on the request as to how many passes were sent and when.  We use the same pass for our membership levels which get guest passes as part of the benefits package.  We also printed a pass good for 4, but this is not really necessary and the multiple passes seem like more.   

 

The donated passes go out with a form letter wishing the group well with their fundraiser and stating the value at the number of tickets X our adult admission prices.  This makes us feel like a supporter of the community, it is easy to assign to a volunteer or hourly employee, and it's much quicker than saying "no".  Few passes are redeemed, so the actual cost is more in the mailing.  You could require people to pick them up in your store in the hopes it exposed one new person to your shopping experience, but in our experience, that left  envelopes collecting dust and someone had to call and ask if anyone was coming to get the item. Volunteers are often running these raffles, so overall we figured a positive and quick response from us was a marketing plus worth the reduced expense in time and materials.

 

Carola Rupert Enriquez

Museum Consultant

Retired Director, Kern County Museum

7500 Yuma Way

Bakersfield, CA  93308

661-342-1433

 

Do you have a policy for requests for free tickets to events or other goods from nonprofits, in support of their fundraising activities?

 

Do you give anything, do you have a cap for donations, do you support specific types of organizations?

 

We receive quite a few requests for raffle drawing baskets, silent auctions and the like. I am seeing an increase in the requests, not surprising since we are all struggling to close our budget gaps.

 

 If I give tickets to a special event, I must show it as an expense against that event’s budget.

If it is a popular  event with limited tickets (or one that sells out) I am less likely to donate. I will offer a membership package or some other item that will not hurt our bottom line. 

 

Cindy Boyer

Director of Museums and Education

The Landmark Society of Western New York

133 S. Fitzhugh St.

Rochester NY  14608

(585) 546-7029 ext. 12

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The Landmark Society:  Revitalizing Yesterday, Protecting Today, and Planning for Tomorrow

 

www.landmarksociety.org

Confessions of a Preservationist: The Landmark Society blog

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