As the perpetual state of Coronavirus uncertainty continues to loom over us, cultural organizations have never faced prolonged, unplanned, closures in the way we are now. Historically, the majority of closures are brief, lasting for a few days or even weeks. Yet with no end in sight, cultural organizations are facing an entirely new, unprecedented challenge.
For many organizations who depend on income from on-site purchases like admission tickets, special exhibitions, and gift shop sales, the membership department is one of the only sources of income at the moment. In a time, however, when members cannot physically come on-site, the question becomes, how do we reinforce the value of being a member?
This past Monday, over 700 membership and museum professionals joined Ash Harris (Vice President of Guest Experience @ San Antonio Zoo), Kelli Buchan (Director of Membership @ The Franklin Institute) and Dan Sullivan (Head of Partnerships @ Cuseum), as they discuss ways that you can continue to reinforce the value of your membership, even when members cannot visit on site.
Watch the full recording here.
Check out the top takeaways!
1. Responding to Coronavirus is an Organization-Wide Effort
As membership departments adapt to the circumstances of COVID-19, it’s important to remember that the whole organization should be involved. According to Ash,
“This is not just a membership effort. This is an organization-wide effort. Nothing that we can do or put out into the world is membership alone. So really lean on your marketing and your education and your leadership teams to help form these things that we've been doing, all the time and in reaction to coronavirus.”
- Ash Harris
Indeed, as organizations continue to strive to create value for members and visitors, it is essential to work closely with marketing, education, and leadership departments to produce the kinds of content members will value.
2. Emphasize the Value of Your Mission
One of the big challenges organizations are facing is the question of membership value. For many members, free admission and unlimited visitation are some of the biggest perks of purchasing a membership.
That being said, free admission is not the only or even the biggest driver of membership value. According to research by Colleen Dilenschneider, millennial audiences cite that “supporting the mission” is the most important thing membership offers them. For other demographic groups, “supporting the mission” comes in second place after “admission” as the biggest benefit of membership.
As physical closures continue to be extended for many institutions, it is imperative that membership professionals emphasize the critical importance of supporting mission-based organizations and the value that such support can bring.
3. Create Value through Digital (Even After the Crisis)
In addition to re-emphasizing already existing membership benefits, now is the time to create new ones, like digital access. Kelli noted that the COVID-19 crisis has been the push the Franklin Institute needed to offer more digital perks:
“We have gone digital in ways that I don't think we've ever had the time to do, and we were kind of forced in the direction by the circumstance of all of this. And I think that it would be foolish to go back to normal. We should instead really come up with a hybrid model of membership.”
- Kelli Buchan.
The key word here is hybrid model. Traditionally, purchasing a membership has allowed someone unlimited annual access to a museum, and often to museums within the reciprocal benefits program. In a hybrid model, the benefits extend beyond what can be physically accessed. True hybrid membership would give members access to a variety of exclusive online content and programming that the museum produces.
Such a hybrid model, which includes digital perks, has the potential to create enormous value now and in the future. Ash has been using digital memberships for several years now, which have become essential for quickly updating membership expiration dates and doing renewals from home.
4. Be Sensitive in Your Messaging, But Keep Pushing Renewals Forward Creatively
Many members across many institutions are concerned about the impact coronavirus will have on the length of their annual membership. Additionally, many members may feel discouraged from renewing their memberships if they worry they won’t gain their full year of access.
San Antonio Zoo has solved this by extending memberships by several months to offset the lost value from physical closures. Both Ash and Kelli emphasized the ongoing importance of renewals, which can be effective when cased in sensitive messaging.
5. No Idea is a Bad Idea
At the end of the session, both Ash and Kelli offered up one key takeaway for membership professionals: no idea is a bad idea.
To keep creating value for members, it is more important than ever to think creatively and collaboratively about what might work best. As Ash said, “Anything you do is for the success of your organization.” Now is the time to put on our thinking caps!
Looking for more information? Check out our coronavirus resources page.