Young professionals MFA

Museum Council History

• Established in 1980 as a volunteer group

• Created age restrictions in 1996

• Museum Council revamp in 1999 into a full  membership program

– New membership levels and prices– 12 month rolling membership– Events and programs exclusively for Museum Council 

members

Museum Council Overview

• Age restriction: 21‐45

• Dual membership, allows 2 people to participate

• Retention rate: 50‐60%

• Average age: 35

• Current membership: 310 households

• Host 5‐10 events per year, plus bonus programming

Museum Council Membership

– Museum Council Associate: $250• Just for individuals ages 21‐26• 45 Museum Council Associates

– Museum Council Member: $500‐$999• 173 Museum Council Member households

– Museum Council Fellow: $1,000‐$2,499• 72 Museum Council Fellow households

– Museum Council Patron: $2,500+• 21 Museum Council Patron households

Museum Council events

• Associates and

Members: 5 events– Focus on exhibitions and collections

• Bonus Events: 5‐12– No cost programming

Museum Council events

• Fellows: 3 events + Member events– Focus on collecting and connoisseurship

• NYC Connoisseurship Weekend, 

• Private Collection Visit

• Council Patrons: 2 events + Fellow events• Insider Perspectives programming

Engagement and Retention

How to grow young donors into  leadership

• Research

• Engage

• Communicate

• Create a defined transition plan and policies– Integrate donor volunteers in the transition 

efforts

• Foster a group mentality

• Peer mentoring

Marketing and Communication

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Steering Committee‐Prospecting Events‐Bring friends to events

‐Placement on web‐Ease of navigation‐Email only

Print collateralGive the people what they want!

•Move away from print collateral and focus on 

email•Print collateral only for large appeals and 

annual mailing to members

Marketing: Online presence

The economy and young donors

The economy and young donorsTrends:

•Acquisitions decreased

•Retention stayed level overall and increased at  the highest level

•Focus on retaining and upgrading core supporters