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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-CA link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='color:#1F497D'>I meant to chime in on this last week, and it slipped my mind. Creston Museum is a small museum in a small community, and we charge admission in summer - $4 for adults, $3 youth, and $10 for a family (we’re pretty flexible on what constitutes a family). In winter, we switch to an admission by donation system, because it’s cold so visits tend to be shorter, and we almost always have part of it torn up while we change an exhibit or repaint a room or something.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='color:#1F497D'>In summer, most people pay the admission without questions, though we occasionally get people who refuse to pay admission, or who walk in with no money in any form because they expect it will be free; and on days when we do go with admission by donation (event days, for example), our per person revenues drop to less than $2. On the other hand, we also get a lot of comments that “it’s worth much more than we charge,” but if we tried charging more, I know we would lose visitors. But in winter, we regularly get people handing us $20 donations and more. The difference is that in winter, people hand us the donation after they’ve visited and in summer, they’re asked for admission when they arrive. So, if we could figure out a way to show people how fantastic we are before they’ve seen it, we could probably go to an admission-by-donation format and considerably increase our admission revenues.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='color:#1F497D'>Tammy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'>--------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'>Tammy Bradford, Manager<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'>Creston Museum<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'>219 Devon Street, Creston BC V0B 1G3<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'>250-428-9262<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=EN-US style='mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'>From:</span></b><span lang=EN-US style='mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'> bcma-bounces@lists.vifa.ca <bcma-bounces@lists.vifa.ca> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.<br><b>Sent:</b> Thursday, August 09, 2018 5:02 PM<br><b>To:</b> bcma@lists.vifa.ca<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [BCMA] To charge or not to charge?<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Dear Museum Friends,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Thank you for the generous response to this query around admissions policies. Responses continue to trickle in, so let’s continue to share our experience. Later on, I will do my best to summarize and report back with some takeaways from this critical conversation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Regards,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Linda<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'><img width=387 height=94 style='width:4.0312in;height:.9791in' id="_x0000_i1025" src="cid:image001.png@01D430BA.1833B840" alt="Linda Digby_email tags-small"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=EN-US style='mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'>From:</span></b><span lang=EN-US style='mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'> <a href="mailto:bcma-bounces@lists.vifa.ca">bcma-bounces@lists.vifa.ca</a> [<a href="mailto:bcma-bounces@lists.vifa.ca">mailto:bcma-bounces@lists.vifa.ca</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.<br><b>Sent:</b> August-01-18 3:21 PM<br><b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:bcma@lists.vifa.ca">bcma@lists.vifa.ca</a><br><b>Subject:</b> [BCMA] To charge or not to charge?<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Dear Friends,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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). <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>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:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="mailto:ldigby@kelownamuseums.ca">ldigby@kelownamuseums.ca</a>, or 778-478-0346<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Best,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Linda<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-CA'><img border=0 width=387 height=94 style='width:4.0312in;height:.9791in' id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image002.png@01D430BA.1833B840" alt="Linda Digby_email tags-small"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div id="DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2"><br />
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