What Keeps Members Engaged: Lessons From Three Museums

In July 2022, museums were in their first fully open summer since the pandemic, and membership teams were rebuilding. Cuseum's Membership Mondays: Strategies to Boost Member Engagement webinar brought together three people doing that work at very different institutions:

• Debbie Sokolov, Director of Development at The James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art in St. Petersburg, Florida, a museum then entering its fourth year with a development and membership team of two.
• Jennifer Matotek, Executive Director of Art Windsor-Essex, which she described as the largest public art gallery in southwestern Ontario, then with a staff of about a dozen.
• Aylaia Sifuentes, Coordinator of Development, Marketing & Membership at the International Museum of Art & Science in McAllen, Texas, which had gone from close to 700 member households before the pandemic to almost 430.

Dan Sullivan, Cuseum's Vice President of Growth and Partnerships, moderated. All three were rebuilding. The James had eliminated 14 positions at the start of the pandemic, Art Windsor-Essex had been closed for about a year of the previous two, and the International Museum of Art & Science was working with a staff that had been cut back during COVID.

Build Offers for Specific Groups of Members

Art Windsor-Essex was designing its membership around the people it wanted to reach. Educators got $10 off membership, with professional development events planned for them. Seniors also got $10 off. Artists and creators got open mic nights, and members under 25 got their own events.

The under-25 level was free. The gallery launched it as a pilot and had more than 400 sign-ups by the time of the webinar, alongside free memberships for artists and creators. Jennifer hoped some of those members would convert to paid memberships when they came to renew the following year.

She also kept in mind a split she saw across all members. About half, she said, "have a membership because they see it as a way of supporting the gallery." The other half bought one "because they want to get in for free and enjoy programs."

Keep Telling Members About Reciprocal Access

At the International Museum of Art & Science, the ASTC Travel Passport Program let members use their membership card at other museums when they traveled. Aylaia said it had become one of the main reasons people bought a membership.

The catch was awareness. "Not everybody knows that that is a perk of our membership," she said, so the museum sent targeted messages about it and kept repeating them. (We looked at the wider membership offer in Beyond the Benefits.)

Make Members-Only Events Feel Different

At The James Museum, members' receptions for new exhibitions came back in person after being held online during the pandemic, and Debbie's team used the return to raise the standard. Instead of "going to Publix and buying cheese trays," the receptions were catered, with a proper bar. They sold out, helped by capacity limits that were still in place.

The International Museum of Art & Science held a members' night every summer and every winter: after-hours family events with snacks and activities, usually with a local partner. At the 2022 summer event, the South Texas Literacy Coalition donated children's books for readers from kindergarten through 12th grade, which Aylaia called a huge draw for members.

Art Windsor-Essex was closed for long stretches of the pandemic, so it ran a roughly quarterly speaker series on Zoom that was open only to members. It drew close to 50 people in winter and about 30 in summer, and it gave members a way to follow the gallery's new strategic plan, new name and new brand.

Give Members a Way to Take Part

The most unusual idea in the webinar was the International Museum of Art & Science's juried members' art show. Every member was invited to submit artwork, and a jury selected work for an exhibition in the museum's galleries. The only requirement to enter was being a member.

Aylaia said the show helped drive membership sales in the months before the first one opened, and it brought in local artists who had never been involved with the museum. Artists encouraged each other to enter, so the museum reached their networks without having to build them. One participant from Mexico bought a membership and mailed their artwork to the museum. A second show was planned for 2022, open to returning artists and new members.

Say Thank You, and Pick Up the Phone

Debbie's approach came from her background in development: steward members the way you steward donors, and show them what their support makes possible. The James Museum was planning a member appreciation month, with several ways of saying thank you, plus member discounts at the newly reopened cafe and free beer and wine for members at live music nights.

All three panelists came back to the same tactic: personal contact. "E-newsletters are great, but if you can pick up that phone and call a member, if you can write them a personal note, and if you can meet them for coffee, and just some way let them know again that you value them as an individual member," Debbie said. The most value, in her view, is in that personal outreach.

When Art Windsor-Essex reopened after its most recent closures, the team called every member to welcome them back instead of sending a mailing. Aylaia made one-on-one calls a regular part of her job. Members often have questions they only raise once they are talking to someone, she said, and those calls had brought back long-time members who had stopped coming as often. Those members often ended up among the museum's most avid supporters and advocates in the community, which is where a member journey should end up.

Track Who Visits, Not Only How Many

Debbie's team tracked memberships by category, new members against renewals, daily attendance by age group, and complimentary tickets for community programs such as the museum's Art for All program, which offers free admission and educational opportunities to people receiving food assistance. Members made up about 8% of attendance so far that summer.

Jennifer looked at what share of visitors were already members and how many of the rest picked up a membership. She also judged the gallery's community programs by their impact, not only their numbers, while admitting that impact is hard to measure.

Three Pieces of Advice

Asked to sum up in 20 words or less, the panelists said:

• Aylaia Sifuentes: "Don't get married to any one idea. You're going to have to throw a lot against the wall and see what sticks. And that's okay."
• Jennifer Matotek: "Show you have value and make sure everything you're doing is in alignment with your mission and strategic plan."
• Debbie Sokolov: "Be authentic, be transparent, and say thank you over and over again."

Automate the Routine Touchpoints

Cuseum's Member Lifecycle Engagement Solution automates messages at key points in the membership, such as welcome messages, benefit reminders, birthday wishes and renewal notifications, and sends them by email, SMS or push notification to the audiences you define. The routine touchpoints go out on time, and your team has more time for the calls and events that members remember.