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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We currently have a program that we call the Welcome Fund that individuals
and businesses have donated funds to so that others can receive memberships.
To qualify for a membership we follow the Free Lunch program's income
eligibility guidelines to qualify families.  

To qualify a family, applicants must submit copies of one of the following:
a copy of the most recent tax return for all adults applying or copies of
the last three pay stubs from every place of employment for all adults
applying.

Some of the things learned by the organization since the program started:
-on the initial application try to collect demographic data (one of the
questions we added is if one or both are students and where)
-all the evaluation of personal records and determination if someone or a
family qualifies is done by one person

We have information about the program on our website both for donors to
support as well as families to receive information about the program.  

We get a lot of interest in the program via word of month and many of our
educational partners.  We also have corporations who currently support a
particular school that will donate funds to us to underwrite memberships for
families that are interested from that particular school.


Jan M. McKenzie
Director of Museum Services
Omaha Children's Museum
500 South 20th Street
Omaha, NE 68102
(402) 930-2347
 

See DinO!saurs: A Return of Prehistoric Proportions at Omaha Children's
Museum, June 3 - Sept. 3, 2006. From the meat-eating Tyrannosaurus Rex to
the long-necked Apatosaurus and flying Pteranodon, see 16 creatures that
will make you believe that the Jurassic is back.

-----Original Message-----
From: Informal Science Education Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Laurie Carty
Sent: Wednesday, June 28, 2006 8:07 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Underwriting Memberships

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

We have a prospective donor who has expressed interest in sponsoring
memberships for families from her town or area of the state who would
not be able to afford them.  We feel this is a great idea and would like
start planning a program that allows for this, with the hope that other
donors will do the same throughout their towns.

 

Some brief background - we are a brand new, mid-sized science center,
currently under construction and scheduled to open in 2008.  

 

Has anyone managed a program such as this?  Any suggestions on how to go
about organizing it?  How do you identify needy families to receive the
memberships?  Any pitfalls to be aware of?  

 

I am seeking open-ended advice on the topic and appreciate any
responses.

 

Thanks very much.

 

Laurie K. Carty

Development Specialist

Connecticut Science Center

50 Columbus Boulevard, 5th Floor

Hartford, CT  06106

 

(860) 727-0457, ext. 110

 

www.ctsciencecenter.org <http://www.ctsciencecenter.org> 

 

 


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More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at http://www.astc.org.
To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
[log in to unmask]