After almost two months of coronavirus closures, many museums and cultural organizations are preparing to welcome visitors and members back. However, while organizations may be reopening, many are doing so in a graduated way and facing new challenges. In particular, many are realizing that tourism will be down for quite some time, which has the potential to profoundly affect admissions and membership revenue. At the same time, cultural organizations may have renewed appeal to local audiences as the world embraces a “stay local” or “staycation” mentality for the foreseeable future.

Last Monday, 1,600 people joined Dan Sullivan (Head of Growth and Partnerships @ Cuseum), Tim O’Connell (Director of Membership & Annual Giving @ North Carolina Museum of Art), Julie Knight (Director of Membership @ San Francisco Museum of Modern Art), Sewon Barrera (Digital Marketing Manager @ Exploratorium) & Daniel Vincent (Director of Membership @ Trustees of Reservations) as they discussed shifts in audiences and membership marketing strategy in light of coronavirus. The webinar addressed how organizations can reorient the value propositions of membership and double down on local audience development to survive and thrive in the coronavirus era.

Watch the full recording here.

Here are a few of the biggest takeaways from the conversation: