Laguna Art Museum
Beginning at the turn of the last century, Laguna Beach was home to one of the most significant artist colonies on the West Coast. Laguna Art Museum continues in this tradition with its mission to provide the public with exposure to art and to promote understanding of the role of art and artists in American culture through collection, conservation, exhibition, research, scholarship, and education. Working within the tradition of the oldest cultural institution in Orange County, Laguna Art Museum documents regional art and places it in a national context. The Museum maintains its historic ties to the community and is responsive, accessible, and relevant to the area’s diverse population. Fundraising for the Museum is generated through a membership program, an annual fund, and special events. Proceeds from these initiatives go to support Museum exhibitions, educational programming, and specific building needs.
Highlights
- Using Auctionpay terminals has diminished the long check-out lines at their annual auction.
- All their data is now in one place using Greater Giving Event Software, making it easier to track details and minimize challenges.
Challenge
Each year, Laguna Art Museum has three major fundraising events; the Art Auction, the Laguna Beach Plein Air Painting Invitational and Palette to Palate. Each one of these events is very popular and can range from 100 to 350 attendees. Marnie Wall, Laguna Art Museum’s Events Director, says they had the classic problem of everyone wanting to leave at the same time, creating long check-out lines and frustrated guests. “It was very hard to get everyone out — there’s only so much room in the lobby and the long lines created a lot of problems at check-out.” Sometimes guests left the event without a receipt, because they were simply tired of waiting.
Check-in, check-out and cashiering were done manually. Event staff collected ticket payments and checked guests out by imprinting credit cards on slips and then inputting the data after the event. This sometimes resulted in inaccuracies and missing information that had to be chased down — delaying event reconciliation sometimes for weeks.
After years of this manual process, the Museum began looking at credit card terminal solutions. This creative group knew there had to be a faster way to collect payment information.
Solution
Wall and her staff were delighted when they learned about Auctionpay. It seemed like the right fit, and in 2004 the Museum used the terminals for the first time at the Art Auction. The simple act of pre-registering credit cards at registration made a big impact — check-out lines moved faster and much of the manual work was eliminated.
After using the Event Payments system for two years, the Museum was ready for the next step and invested in Greater Giving Event Software. Their goal was to provide an event night receipt, as well as manage all the event details in one database. Making the decision to purchase Greater Giving Event Software was easy, said Wall. “Having the software makes the event run smoothly and more professionally, and I already knew Greater Giving was a good company.” She added “Client Services was also very helpful with tech support. We’ve made those emergency calls for things that would come up on the day of, and they were always available, friendly and quickly answered my questions.”
Tips from Laguna Art Museum
- Close the silent auction in stages, so there is more time for data entry.
- Clearly and prominently mark closing times in each silent auction section — consider posting signage directly on the walls using 2” removable vinyl letters.
- Don’t be afraid to contact Greater Giving Client Services with any questions, they are a great resource.
Results
Since adding Greater Giving products, the professionalism and efficiency of the Art Auction has improved significantly. Now auction staff can quickly make corrections at check-out and send guests out the door with an accurate, professional-looking receipt. Wall enthused, ”Since we’ve been using Greater Giving, the operations of the event are much better, cleaner and more organized. We have no confusion and very few mistakes. I just cannot imagine doing another event without Greater Giving!” And Dawn Minegar, Laguna Art Museum’s Membership Manager, seconds that opinion. They both feel the Greater Giving solution helps to keep them on track and find solutions to any challenges they encounter. They also appreciate the money saved by not having to print and mail separate receipts post-event.
The Museum is actively looking for as much cost and time savings as possible, and Greater Giving is a big contributor to that effort.
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