[BCMA] To charge or not to charge?

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.]

Hi All,

 

Here at the Yale Historic Site, we charge set admission fees.  We've had to
raise our fees slightly this year and have had no complaints about the
increase.  We have different rates bases on age and children under 6 are
free.  We also offer family rates and group rates.  What I have noticed from
visitors is that if you charge too little for your museum they believe there
is no value in visiting as 'there can't be that much to see' or 'it's not
worth it if you're not charging very much".  We have increased our rates
from $5.00 an adult to $10.00 an adult since 2009 and had more complaints
about the cost of admission when the rates were lower.  In fact we have been
told many times that we aren't charging enough. We also have two donation
boxes in the museum and one in each washroom and have money being donation
into those as well on a daily basis.  On select days throughout the year we
do admission by donation and the donations are always significantly less
than what is suggested.  

 

Deb

 

Deb Zervini

General Manager

 

Yale Historic Site

31187 Douglas Street

Yale, BC, V0K 2S0

604-863-2324

 <mailto:info at historicyale.ca> info at historicyale.ca

www.historicyale.ca

 

 

From: bcma-bounces at lists.vifa.ca <bcma-bounces at lists.vifa.ca> On Behalf Of
Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.
Sent: August 1, 2018 3:21 PM
To: bcma at lists.vifa.ca
Subject: [BCMA] To charge or not to charge?

 

Dear Friends,

 

We operate three museums in downtown Kelowna, with admission by donation.
Our admissions  policy is under review, and we would like to know what other
museums have learned about admission policy.  What are museums of various
size categories handling admission? Does charging admission, rather than
asking for a donation, increase or decrease revenues?  How does it impact
visitation?  What else has been learned?

 

Here is our experience:  Kelowna Museums Society sees just under 40,000
visitors a year at our three museums.  We have a long history of offering
admission by donation.  Last year, we posted small signs on the donation
boxes stating the suggested donation is $5 per person. This worked for us,
and we noticed an increase in donation box revenues. Based on recent
performance, our budget reflects anticipated donation box revenues from our
three facilities of $34,000.  Our average donation per person is about half
of our suggested donation, or around $2.50 (some of our visitors pay program
fees that are not reflected in the donation box revenue line, so this
average refers to casual drop-in visitors).  

 

The board would like to know if revenues would increase if we instituted an
admission fee.  Alternatively, they wonder if it would be beneficial to make
our suggested donation signage more prominent and detailed, with suggested
donations for individuals,  families, seniors, students, etc. 

 

General comments may be shared with the entire listserv community.  Anyone
who would like to engage in a more detailed exchange may contact me directly
at:

ldigby at kelownamuseums.ca <mailto:ldigby at kelownamuseums.ca> , or 778-478-0346

 

Best,

Linda

 



 

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