Leveraging a new gallery as an opportunity for a membership refresh
For years, Worcester Art Museum (WAM) knew its membership program needed to evolve. Pricing, benefits, and membership levels had remained largely unchanged, and while the WAM team had identified several opportunities to modernize the program, the Museum lacked the data to feel confident in making significant changes.
With the opening of its landmark Arms & Armor galleries on the horizon, the Museum saw an opportunity to reimagine membership and turn increased visitation into long-term audience relationships.
The Radiance Insights team was engaged to review the Museum's membership model, pricing, benefits, communications, and visitor experience. Drawing on extensive sector expertise and benchmarking against peer institutions, Radiance Insights developed a practical roadmap that gave the Museum the clarity and confidence to implement meaningful change.
Leveraging best practice, expertise and insight
The Radiance Insights team worked with Worcester Art Museum to redesign its membership program ahead of the opening of its new Arms & Armor galleries.
The project included:
Evaluation of membership pricing, levels, and benefits
Benchmarking against aspirational and peer museums
An in-depth assessment of the end-to-end membership experience, including the website, visitor journey, signage, acquisition campaigns, and renewal communications
Developing a practical implementation roadmap to support the launch of the new membership program
Creating a Visitor Experience training manual to help frontline staff confidently engage visitors and support membership growth
Revenue forecast and scenario planning
We worked closely with the WAM team to identify their key goals and objectives for the new program, as well as the critical questions to be answered to ensure the program was set up for success from the beginning. Drawing from our deep expertise in grand opening strategies and membership re-design, a new approach to membership was recommended to fully capitalize on the momentum of the opening of the new gallery spaces.
"Membership stopped being one department's responsibility. The project brought marketing, visitor experience, and membership together around shared goals."
Katy Sullivan, Senior Manager of Annual Giving, Worcester Art Museum
The final membership concept simplified the structure and refined how the value proposition was communicated to prospective members, while also creating a strong distinction between transactional and philanthropic tiers to attract more mission-driven members. As a result of our assessment of the current program, we also made several practical recommendations to immediately improve member engagement and retention, such as prioritizing data capture for Institutional Partner visitors, reducing unnecessary membership cards, and aligning reciprocal benefits with competitors.
Fully embracing a holistic membership and audience strategy
Rather than implementing a handful of recommendations, Worcester Art Museum committed to almost the entire strategy. Membership levels were simplified and repriced, digital membership cards and auto-renewal were introduced, acquisition campaigns were strengthened, and visitor experience staff received a new membership training program.
Excerpt from new membership training program for WAM staff, emphasizing that all staff play a part in the member journey at the museum.
Perhaps the most notable change to the program was the elimination of the Museum’s discounted Senior level, a decision that the team was hesitant to implement due to fears of member backlash and lost revenue. At the same time, a new tier was introduced that covered two members plus unlimited free admission for one guest and reciprocal membership with over 1,500 museums. While these were significant changes for the Museum, Radiance Insights supported the team with comprehensive communication and rollout plans to help ensure the Museum was telling the right story about these new changes from the beginning.
The results have been significant.
Membership goals were achieved four months ahead of the end of the last fiscal year
Membership revenue increased by 36% from FY25 to FY26
Total membership households grew by 10.7% from FY25 to FY26
Auto-renewal participation increased from 25% prior to the launch of the new membership program to 34% of active members today, reflecting strong member adoption of the program.
Concerns about removing the senior discount also proved largely unfounded, with very few member complaints.
Additionally, the newly introduced Level 3 membership became one of the Museum's most popular tiers, featuring a flexible “bring a guest anytime” messaging along with reciprocal benefits. Level 3 and above now represents roughly one third of total memberships, tripling from FY24 where it represented just 10% of total memberships.
The project did more than modernize the membership offer, it changed how the Museum worked and collaborated across departments. Marketing, membership, and visitor experience teams became more closely aligned around shared audience goals, while evidence-based recommendations gave staff the confidence to make changes they had been considering for years.
"The Radiance Insights team gave us the confidence to make changes we'd been talking about for years. We trusted the process, implemented the recommendations, and the results have been wildly successful."
Tara Leahy, Membership Manager, Worcester Art Museum