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]> 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
 
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