Open Forum

​We are looking to promote gift memberships this holiday season. Does anyone have any examples of promotions for this? Do you offer any additional discounts on gift memberships? Do you throw in something branded? Anything extra for the member buying the gift membership? Thanks for your input!

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Laura Freeman
Membership Manager
Bruce Museum
Greenwich CT
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Hi Laura,
I recommend including a physical item with the gift membership so the recipient can receive something tangible. This can be anything from a plush, branded tote, or collectible to a simple certificate or gift box. 

We've conducted testing to see if discounts work for gift membership promotions, and they do. However, a tangible gift, beautiful package, or free tickets to an upcoming event (ZooLights, for example) can work even better than a discount and has less risk of cannibalizing your membership acquisition efforts (i.e. members buying gift memberships for themselves). 

Here are a few examples of a few gift membership packages and promotions: 
Give the Gift of a Walker Membership 
Give the gift of Art Museum membership
Gift Memberships - Clyfford Still Museum 
Gift Membership | LACMA




Also, you may be interested in the gift membership case study from the Museum of Science, Boston that is featured in Membership Marketing in the Digital Age (Membership Marketing in the Digital Age: A Handbook for Museums and Libraries (American Association for State and Local History). 

Amazon		remove preview
Membership Marketing in the Digital Age: A Handbook for Museums and Libraries (American Association for State and Local History) Membership marketing and management is an ever more demanding role within the institutions served-meeting fiscal demands, keeping pace with online marketing opportunities, and making data-driven decisions. The demands are diverse and ever-changing. This book addresses all aspects of managem... View this on Amazon >

Good luck with your gift membership campaign! 

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Rosie Siemer
FIVESEED
rosie@fiveseed.com
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The addition of something tangible as noted above also allows for a nice physical display, whether in your lobby, gift shop, or both.

Our membership manager has very good success with an "extra 3 months free" incentive. Technically that's still a discount, but more palatable from an operational perspective.

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Carrie Sanger
Manager of Marketing & PR
Meadows Museum - Southern Methodist University
Dallas TX
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