We’ve talked a lot in this blog about strategies for building member loyalty and increasing your renewal rates, but that’s only one piece of the puzzle. Renewals alone are not enough—you need to be bringing in new members, too.  

For a healthy membership base, we like to see a 60/40 split of renewed or reinstated members vs. new-to-file members. Membership acquisition campaigns are an important tool to hit that goal. But as consumer confidence drops and competition for leisure time increases, it becomes crucial to convince new prospects why your organization is worth spending their money and time on.  

This was top of mind when we sat down to start planning the National Aquarium’s 2026 spring acquisition campaign. We knew our list strategy was sound and the timing of our campaign worked well for the area, but we wondered if we could do a better job of showcasing the value of membership and the experience of being at the Aquarium.   

Ultimately, the changes we made required a very little lift and capitalized on things the Aquarium was already doing. And more than likely, they’re changes you can easily make to your next acquisition package.   

Showcasing the Value  

First, we wanted to make sure that we were really conveying the value of membership, beyond the list of benefits.  

We realized the Aquarium already had a lot of free programming offered as part of the guest experience. These programs, such as Puffin Talks, happened regularly and were a free part of admission. And that means they were free for members, too.  

We always talk about membership giving you free admission, but now we were going to showcase what that meant. As a member, you could attend daily activities and events, making every visit a special experience and giving you more reasons to come back again and again.  

Before: 

After: 

Sharing the Experience 

At this point, we knew the package did a great job of explaining why you should become a member. It balanced the benefits and value of membership with the impact a member’s support has on the Aquarium’s mission. Now, we wanted to evoke the feeling of wonder you get when you actually visit the Aquarium. A picture’s worth a thousand words, right?  

We redesigned the back of the letter to have a sidebar of images that captured the experience of visiting this underwater world. Our goal was to make the eye move down the page, ultimately ending at the QR code and call to action.  

Before:                                                                                          After: 

 

So, how did it do? 

It’s hard to imagine small changes like that could make a big difference. The strategy, the timing, and the mail quantity were the same. The majority of the package copy and design were the same. This wasn’t a huge overhaul of the control package—just small changes made with intention.  

But those small changes paid off. Compared to the year before, the campaign saw a 15% increase in membership sales and a 14% increase in gross revenue.  

In fact, this was the highest performing spring acquisition campaign in our 8-year partnership with the Aquarium.  

I’m taking the time to share this, because I believe that this strategy can be applied to many cultural organizations. Take a look at your acquisition materials. Are there any existing programs you can capitalize on to increase the perceived value of membership? Are there any ways you can better highlight the visitor experience?  

I hope this helps make a difference for your membership program. And if you ever want to connect and talk membership, I’d love to hear from you.