ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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One other piece of anecdotal experience:
Having a donation box near the gift shop cash register seems to work well to capture loose change people don't want to deal with...

-William

William Katzman                    "The important thing is to never stop questioning." -A. Einstein
Director of Exhibits               "Are you sure about that Al?" -His wife.
Catawba Science Center
ph: (828) 322-8169 x307
fax:(828) 322-1585
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-----Original Message-----
From:   David Taylor [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent:   Thursday, August 26, 2004 10:50 AM
Subject:        Re: donation boxes

ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************

Ben,
        I have found a couple of things about donation boxes over the
years...

1. Ones that do something (like the gravity wells for coins) often attract
more money even though it is in smaller denominations.  I have found that
these  work best in places where people are waiting... particularly near
restrooms where a mom or dad may be standing with one of the kids waiting
for someone else in the family.  The kids will bug their parents for some
coins to roll down into the well, and one coin is never enough to satisfy
them.

2. The other thing I found is that it is best to put a non-interactive
donation box near a part of the museum people like and then label the box as
donations to help support the operation of that part of the museum.  This
has worked well for live animal areas, butterfly exhibits and planetariums
in my personal experience.

3.  Make the donation box transparent so others can see that others are
supporting the mission.  Always leave a bit of money in the box to encourage
others but not so much that it becomes an object of theft or vandalism.

4.  Make the box freestanding so you can move it when you discover it's not
in a place that is attracting donations, but big and heavy enough that
someone can't walk off with it.

Hope this helps...

                  David Taylor
        AHHA Museum Services
             Now I Understand
         1560 NW Woodbine Way
             Seattle, WA 98177
              (206) 363-8126
    e-mail:   [log in to unmask]
 http://www.AHHA-MuseumServices.com




> From: Gammon Ben <[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To: Informal Science Education Network <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2004 10:49:08 +0100
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: donation boxes
>
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
>
> Can anybody provide any advice or interesting case studies about how to
> increase donations from visitors? We no longer charge an admission fee
> except for special exhibitions and we are keen to increase the amount of
> income from our donation boxes. Specifically I would be interested in any
> advice or information on the following areas
> i) research into what motivates or de-motivates people from giving money
> ii) examples of successful donation box designs
> iii) the best locations for donation boxes
>
> Any help or advice would be much appreciated
> Ben Gammon
>
> Science Museum, London
>
>
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