Denver Art Museum – A Groundbreaking with Results
Nothing motivates membership planning like the promise of a new building, a growing museum, and the hope for a greatly expanded membership. That was the exact situation at the Denver Art Museum as it prepared for its groundbreaking architectural creation. Fifteen months prior to the new museum opening, Membership Consultants was engaged to help plan for the membership portion of the grand opening.
Upon completing the membership plans, there was a change in the Membership Directorship. Even though the new Membership staffer had significant membership experience, she was grateful that a comprehensive membership analysis and plan was in place upon her arrival. The Director maintained the plan took months off of her learning curve and allowed her to jump right into the implementation phase of the plan.
The first phase of the membership plan included engaging former museum members. Using direct mail and telefundraising campaigns, the anticipation of the grand opening created great response rates. The membership focus continued with two pre-opening direct mail campaigns. In house on-site sales efforts continued the membership growth, and the post opening campaigns continued the momentum. In total, a 40% growth in membership totals had occurred after grand opening – from 20,000 members to 28,000 members in a six month time span.
The grand opening year was not the only success for the Denver Art Museum. The momentum and excitement continued with major exhibitions and more membership growth opportunities. The direct mail campaigns, telephone recapture campaigns and on-site sales focus continued and provided another 25% growth spurt to 34,000 members households within the next three years post grand opening.
Planning, aggressive membership sales focus and creative campaigns made the Denver Art Museum a membership success story!