Museum survives extended COVID-19 closure with help from cloud-based software solutions.

In March 2020, Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose
closed its doors in an abundance of caution to prevent the
spread of COVID-19. What was expected to be a short closure
lasted 13 months, with only limited opportunities for visits to
outdoor exhibit spaces. The museum re-opened in April 2021 at
25% capacity for indoor exhibits—restrictions that continued
into summer due to mandatory county health directives. We
talked with Cheryl Blumenthal, director of information systems
and compliance, about staying connected with supporters
and preparing for a new future with the benefit of Blackbaud
solutions—including Blackbaud Altru®, which is designed for
the ticketing, membership, admissions, and fundraising needs
of arts and culture organizations.

Q: How has the extended closure and limited re-opening impacted the Museum financially?

A: The decline in visitors has had a significant impact on the economic
stability of the Museum. Prior to the pandemic, the Museum’s financial model
was 50/50 earned vs. contributed revenue, totaling $8 million annually. With
the closure in March 2020, which is the midpoint of the Museum’s fiscal
year, earned income (admission, membership, birthday parties, café sales
and program fees), fell to zero. At the same time, the Museum had $1 million
outstanding in active memberships, a significant liability.

Q: Explain the adaptions you made around memberships as a proactive financial measure.

A: As a Blackbaud Altru user since 2012, we reached out to Blackbaud to
determine if current memberships could be put on hold and the terms
extended to match the duration of the Museum’s closure. In response to its
users, Blackbaud developed a membership utility to extend membership
expiration dates, and the Museum implemented this utility to extend over
6,800 memberships for 11 months, reducing the possibility that this liability
would need to be paid.

Q: Stepping back, how did integrated Blackbaud solutions help prepare you for this critical moment?

A: In the fall of 2019, the Museum began the implementation of Blackbaud
Luminate Online® as another means to shift single-ticket buyers to
become members and, potentially, donors. The objective was to obtain
email addresses from online ticket buyers, which represented 8% of ticket
purchases at the time, and from visitors purchasing tickets at admission.
Collecting email addresses at admission had proven to be unsuccessful—
reluctance of visitors to provide the information and length of time added
to the ticket purchasing process being the top two reasons. But in late
2019, we launched a Welcome Series in Blackbaud Luminate Online to share
more about the mission and programs of the Museum, and rather than
relying on emails secured during admissions, the series is sent to those
addresses secured and to visitors who sign up for a newsletter on the
Museum’s website.

To date, the series—which uses Blacbkaud partner Omatic Software as the
integration solution between Altru and Luminate—has been comprised
of nine messages, with a 22.4% open rate. This work laid the foundation
for future communications with visitors returning during the Museum’s
COVID-19 reopening.

Q: Could you go into more detail about the value and opportunities around email communication at re-opening?

A: When the Museum was permitted to restart operations, online reservations
for scheduled daily play sessions were required, and an email address was
necessary to receive the ticket. This increased the number of available email
addresses by nearly 9% to more than 60,000.

The current automated series includes a visitor experience survey, and a
social proof email asking the visitor to post a review on social media, followed
by two emails promoting becoming a member. Communications are sent to
both members and non-members who have reserved tickets, although the
“membership asks” are not sent to current members. In 2021, “membership
ask” emails have been sent to over 1,200 recipients, with an open rate of 26%.

Additionally, periodic mailings are sent to promote Museum events and
programs, and for targeted fundraising appeals.

Prior to the pandemic, visitor experience surveys were conducted in-person as
visitors were exiting. The survey was developed by The Collaboration for
Ongoing Visitor Experience Studies (COVES), of which the Museum is a
member institution, and is designed to unite museums across the country in the collection, analysis, and reporting of visitor experience data systematically.

In this current “contactless” environment, the integration of Altru, Luminate and
Omatic has allowed the Museum to automate its visitor experience survey—
which so far has had a 32% open rate and a 9.7% click-through rate. The survey
information has been instrumental in understanding why visitors are returning
and how best to address their concerns for safety and hygiene.

Q: What is the outlook for the Museum?

A: The return to pre-pandemic earned income levels is not anticipated
until sometime in 2022. The Museum’s 50/50 financial revenue model
will continue to be stressed. However, while we acknowledge and work
to mitigate the impact of reduced earned income, the Museum staff and
the Board of Directors are committed to the Museum’s “civic bottom line”
as well. This responsibility is for the well-being of children and families in
its community. Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose will continue to
offer a rich environment where children learn in their own hands-on and
minds-on ways with one another—a respite from the distance learning and
isolation of the past year.