Open Forum

Has your museum moved to a free admission model? Or perhaps instituted a new admission policy? What was the impact on attendance, revenue, and membership? We're thinking of conducting a survey and/or case studies to help our clients and others navigate this process. Please share your experience or let me know if you'd be willing to take part. Thank you.

------------------------------
Laura MacDonald CFRE
President
Benefactor Group, LLC
Columbus OH
------------------------------

Our museum moved to free admission about 8 years ago now, and it worked out wonderfully.

In the spirit of transparency, though I should note that we are a local, small-town museum.  The admission price was ridiculously cheap (like 50 cents for an adult), and the museum was not regularly advertised as being open...so free admission alone may not be responsible for all the changes.

However, since implementing (and advertising regular hours) attendance has seen a dramatic upswing and so has our income--people are much more likely to drop a $10 or $20 into the donation box.  Even if 50% of guests don't donate or don't donate as much as you would have previously received from admission (depending on what that was) I'd say about 50% will give more and balance that out.  We've even had a handful of visitors drop $50s and $100s in, saying they appreciated that it was free for everyone.  You're also more likely to attract families and large groups, as even $5 or less per person may be cost prohibitive to them.

Advertising that it's free admission is a huge boost for sure, but it's also a great thing to mention on grant requests too--with free admission you truly can represent the whole community, and grant boards will recognize that.

So, in short:  Attendance skyrocketed, revenue skyrocketed (but like I said, 50 cents per person isn't gonna get you very far), and membership has increased but I should note that we don't necessarily have "museum" memberships...instead our parent historical society offers them, and since the museum itself is free there isn't a direct benefit of free tours to members so I'm not sure if there's correlation there.

------------------------------
Kenny Libben , Curator
Cleo Redd Fisher Museum - Mohican Historical Society
Loudonville OH
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-15-2019 06:43 AM
From: Laura MacDonald
Subject: Moving to (or from) a free admission model

Has your museum moved to a free admission model? Or perhaps instituted a new admission policy? What was the impact on attendance, revenue, and membership? We're thinking of conducting a survey and/or case studies to help our clients and others navigate this process. Please share your experience or let me know if you'd be willing to take part. Thank you.

------------------------------
Laura MacDonald CFRE
President
Benefactor Group, LLC
Columbus OH
------------------------------

Thanks for sharing your experience!

------------------------------
Laura MacDonald CFRE
President
Benefactor Group, LLC
Columbus OH
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-16-2019 10:28 AM
From: Kenneth Libben
Subject: Moving to (or from) a free admission model

Our museum moved to free admission about 8 years ago now, and it worked out wonderfully.

In the spirit of transparency, though I should note that we are a local, small-town museum.  The admission price was ridiculously cheap (like 50 cents for an adult), and the museum was not regularly advertised as being open...so free admission alone may not be responsible for all the changes.

However, since implementing (and advertising regular hours) attendance has seen a dramatic upswing and so has our income--people are much more likely to drop a $10 or $20 into the donation box.  Even if 50% of guests don't donate or don't donate as much as you would have previously received from admission (depending on what that was) I'd say about 50% will give more and balance that out.  We've even had a handful of visitors drop $50s and $100s in, saying they appreciated that it was free for everyone.  You're also more likely to attract families and large groups, as even $5 or less per person may be cost prohibitive to them.

Advertising that it's free admission is a huge boost for sure, but it's also a great thing to mention on grant requests too--with free admission you truly can represent the whole community, and grant boards will recognize that.

So, in short:  Attendance skyrocketed, revenue skyrocketed (but like I said, 50 cents per person isn't gonna get you very far), and membership has increased but I should note that we don't necessarily have "museum" memberships...instead our parent historical society offers them, and since the museum itself is free there isn't a direct benefit of free tours to members so I'm not sure if there's correlation there.

------------------------------
Kenny Libben , Curator
Cleo Redd Fisher Museum - Mohican Historical Society
Loudonville OH

Original Message:
Sent: 07-15-2019 06:43 AM
From: Laura MacDonald
Subject: Moving to (or from) a free admission model

Has your museum moved to a free admission model? Or perhaps instituted a new admission policy? What was the impact on attendance, revenue, and membership? We're thinking of conducting a survey and/or case studies to help our clients and others navigate this process. Please share your experience or let me know if you'd be willing to take part. Thank you.

------------------------------
Laura MacDonald CFRE
President
Benefactor Group, LLC
Columbus OH
------------------------------

The Walters Art Museum and the Baltimore Museum of Art eliminated entrance fees many years ago, perhaps 2001. Gary Vikan at the Walters and Doreen Bolger at BMA lead the process. Both museums tracked the process pretty well as I recall.

------------------------------
WILLIAM PERKINS
Pacific Studio
Poulsbo WA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-15-2019 06:43 AM
From: Laura MacDonald
Subject: Moving to (or from) a free admission model

Has your museum moved to a free admission model? Or perhaps instituted a new admission policy? What was the impact on attendance, revenue, and membership? We're thinking of conducting a survey and/or case studies to help our clients and others navigate this process. Please share your experience or let me know if you'd be willing to take part. Thank you.

------------------------------
Laura MacDonald CFRE
President
Benefactor Group, LLC
Columbus OH
------------------------------

The Dallas Museum of Art moved to a free general admission model in 2012/2013.  The impact on attendance was fairly significant, close to a 40% increase (if I remember correctly).  We also did a major audience evaluation a couple years after this change, and found that the museum audience had changed to more accurately reflect the larger demographics of DFW (ex: the museum audience became younger, more ethnically diverse etc).  

Membership levels were initially impacted but I believe they've come back to a point where they're even higher than before the switch (through increased member incentives such as free parking, free special exhibition tickets, special previews and other discounts etc).  And other earned revenue streams did meaningfully increase just by having more feet through the door -- parking, food & beverage, gift shop etc

All that said, it was a dramatic shift for the institution and one that took some time to fully absorb.  Up here in Toronto the Art Gallery of Ontario just announced an interesting model where it seems like they're trying to split the difference: free to all under a certain age and a very affordable "annual pass"  (they've also announced it as a 1-year pilot)

https://www.cp24.com/news/ago-offers-free-entry-to-those-25-and-under-launches-35-annual-pass-1.4414922

Shyam

------------------------------
Shyam Oberoi
Chief Digital Officer
Royal Ontario Museum
Toronto ON
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-16-2019 12:40 PM
From: WILLIAM PERKINS
Subject: Moving to (or from) a free admission model

The Walters Art Museum and the Baltimore Museum of Art eliminated entrance fees many years ago, perhaps 2001. Gary Vikan at the Walters and Doreen Bolger at BMA lead the process. Both museums tracked the process pretty well as I recall.

------------------------------
WILLIAM PERKINS
Pacific Studio
Poulsbo WA

Original Message:
Sent: 07-15-2019 06:43 AM
From: Laura MacDonald
Subject: Moving to (or from) a free admission model

Has your museum moved to a free admission model? Or perhaps instituted a new admission policy? What was the impact on attendance, revenue, and membership? We're thinking of conducting a survey and/or case studies to help our clients and others navigate this process. Please share your experience or let me know if you'd be willing to take part. Thank you.

------------------------------
Laura MacDonald CFRE
President
Benefactor Group, LLC
Columbus OH
------------------------------

Do you have signage that reflects this new model of free entry?  We would be very interested in what the signs say and where they are located.

Our museum is free, the volunteers usually ask for donations, and we have signs that encourage donations, but we have discovered that many families and several tour groups are taking advantage of this policy.  The tour groups are small, less than 20.  

We are a small museum in a small town, run entirely by volunteers.  We get all of our funds through fundraisers, grants, and donations.

Thank you for any recommendations you could offer,


------------------------------
Jean Nels
Executive Director
Mt. Shasta Sisson Museum
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-17-2019 09:53 AM
From: Shyam Oberoi
Subject: Moving to (or from) a free admission model

The Dallas Museum of Art moved to a free general admission model in 2012/2013.  The impact on attendance was fairly significant, close to a 40% increase (if I remember correctly).  We also did a major audience evaluation a couple years after this change, and found that the museum audience had changed to more accurately reflect the larger demographics of DFW (ex: the museum audience became younger, more ethnically diverse etc).

Membership levels were initially impacted but I believe they've come back to a point where they're even higher than before the switch (through increased member incentives such as free parking, free special exhibition tickets, special previews and other discounts etc).  And other earned revenue streams did meaningfully increase just by having more feet through the door -- parking, food & beverage, gift shop etc

All that said, it was a dramatic shift for the institution and one that took some time to fully absorb.  Up here in Toronto the Art Gallery of Ontario just announced an interesting model where it seems like they're trying to split the difference: free to all under a certain age and a very affordable "annual pass"  (they've also announced it as a 1-year pilot)

https://www.cp24.com/news/ago-offers-free-entry-to-those-25-and-under-launches-35-annual-pass-1.4414922

Shyam

------------------------------
Shyam Oberoi
Chief Digital Officer
Royal Ontario Museum
Toronto ON

Original Message:
Sent: 07-16-2019 12:40 PM
From: WILLIAM PERKINS
Subject: Moving to (or from) a free admission model

The Walters Art Museum and the Baltimore Museum of Art eliminated entrance fees many years ago, perhaps 2001. Gary Vikan at the Walters and Doreen Bolger at BMA lead the process. Both museums tracked the process pretty well as I recall.

------------------------------
WILLIAM PERKINS
Pacific Studio
Poulsbo WA

Original Message:
Sent: 07-15-2019 06:43 AM
From: Laura MacDonald
Subject: Moving to (or from) a free admission model

Has your museum moved to a free admission model? Or perhaps instituted a new admission policy? What was the impact on attendance, revenue, and membership? We're thinking of conducting a survey and/or case studies to help our clients and others navigate this process. Please share your experience or let me know if you'd be willing to take part. Thank you.

------------------------------
Laura MacDonald CFRE
President
Benefactor Group, LLC
Columbus OH
------------------------------