In the late 1990s, soon after the Canadian Mint introduced the $2 coin — the toonie — movie theatres started promoting Toonie Tuesdays and selling tickets for $2 each to help fill seats on a low-attendance day. It worked.
While the price of admission is somewhat higher than that of a Canadian toonie, the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) in Boston is now charging $10 for a day pass to non-members on Tuesdays to visit its research centre, instead of the usual $20 fee.
The 50 percent-off sale may be the society’s way of encouraging people to visit on a quieter day.
The lower fee is also a nice way to soften the blow of the announcement NEHGS made in its e-newsletter this week about reducing the number of hours its research centre will be open, starting November 6. The research centre will continue to be open to visitors from Tuesday to Saturday, but it will close at an earlier hour. Admission is free to NEHGS members.
Offering a reduced rate to visitors on the quietest day of the week is one idea that can be easily adopted by other genealogical societies. If once a week seems too much, a society could try for just once a month. If 50 percent off sounds like too much for the budget, a society could take off only $5 or similar.
The limited-time reduced visitor’s fee may even draw in new members for a society.
The key to making the reduced fee offer successful, however, is to promote it outside the society. If a society doesn’t tell non-members about the special promotion, they shouldn’t be surprised if the number of visits remains flat.
Savoir faire is an occasional feature about genealogists and genealogical societies that are doing good things. To read about other creative and inspirational ideas, click on the ‘Savoir faire’ category in the right margin.
