Getting Creative About Museum Memberships — It’s Time

As anyone who keeps up with the news knows, Wal-Mart is one of the few companies that is doing just fine during this recession. Why? Value. Forget luxury purchases; everyone wants value for their money now.

So I took notice a few weeks ago when I saw something about a “Fairfield/Westchester
Museum Alliance,” which offers the members of six museums free admission to all the others (as well as a 10% store discount). Non-members that pay at one museum receive free same-day admission to any of the participating museums.

What a great idea, especially now. This alliance, which started this spring, includes the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers (pictured below), the Katonah Museum of Art in Katonah, the Neuberger Museum of Art in Purchase, and the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in Peekskill. The new program began in May and will continue through December.

Are other museums doing similar things to increase their value to members?

There are, as I’ve said before, few good, current statistics on variables like museum
membership, so I don’t know how museums are faring. But even if membership levels are stable, it would be a good idea for museums to increase their value to members, so they stay members. Maybe members who care about them should even be suggesting that.   

Some museums do give members benefits beyond free admission, programs and publications. The Whitney, for one, has a deal that offers discounts at neighborhood stores. Most let members in during off-hours. The Art Institute of Chicago is one that extends reciprocal admission privileges to other museums, including the St. Louis Art Museum, the Vancouver Art Gallery, and the Walker Art Institute, to premium members. But none of its partners are local — even though that’s where the value would come in. The Tacoma Art Museum, along with offering discounts at frame and art-supply shops, gives members 50% off admission at the nearby Museum of Glass and Washington State Historical Society.

Every penny counts now, I know, but museums get only a small portion of revenues from admissions. Membership provides more stable income, up-front. Now it is the time for museums to be creative about that — especially at museums like the Art Institute that have raised admission prices lately.

The Fairfield/Westchester alliance was started to encourage visitorship and membership; the
museums didn’t make any projections about revenue declines or membership increases — they just did it, according to Mike Horyczun, the Bruce’s Director of Public Relations. So far, he says, few people have taken the museums up on the offer. They will, I think, once the word gets around.

The FWMU is holding a joint meeting on Monday, and Horyczun says he believes the reciprocation deal will be extended past December. I hope so, and I hope other museums take note. It’s time to get creative.

Did I hear someone say “summer memberships”?

Photo Credits: Courtesty Hudson River Museum (top); Edward Tufte at the Aldrich (bottom), Courtesy Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum