The Glengarry Pioneer Museum in Dunvegan is already reaping the benefits of its new membership and event management system, with memberships on the rise again, after a down year in 2020.
Current and past members have been responding to automated emails by renewing their memberships – a boost to the museum, which saw a notable drop in renewals in 2020.
“A lot of people renew at our events, but of course in 2020 we hardly had any events and definitely not our big ones,” observed museum curator Jennifer Black. “We didn’t have many renewals last year.”
The drop in membership was a major concern for staff at the museum, as it is important to maintain the membership base in order to demonstrate that the facility has a supportive community. However the early response to this year’s renewal notices has been very encouraging.
“Just in three weeks we’ve received half of our membership renewals already,” Black said.
Although most activities at the museum were cancelled in 2020, it was still a banner year for the site. A Christmas movie for the CTV Drama channel was filmed on the property last summer, which brought a lot of attention to the museum. The museum also held two successful fundraising auctions and used the opportunity to expand its online content, creating several historical online videos and hosting home activites.
An individual annual membership to the Pioneer Museum costs $20 a year and family memberships are available at a cost of $30. Lifetime memberships are also available.
Members receive a number of perks, including special event pricing, advance notice of events, newsletters and free admission to the museum on non-event days. There are also discounts in the gift shop and on Williams Pavilion rentals.
Black noted the membership renewal requests were sent only to existing and previous members, however the museum is always looking for more people to join. Anyone who would like to sign up as a member can contact the Glengarry Pioneery Museum by email at [email protected].
