The Science Museum

Not Rushed, Certainly Not Pushy - Increasing donations from visitors on their arrival.

“Josh is a wonderful trainer who tailored theWholeStory’s ethos perfectly to our fundraising methods at the Science Museum Group. All of our teams have since used the training effectively to give a higher level of customer service and engaging content in our conversations with visitors.”

Individual Giving Executive, Science Museum Group.

Beginning.

The Science Museum’s world-class collection is enduring record of scientific, technological and medical advancement from across the globe. To help ensure everyone can be inspired by its award-winning exhibitions, iconic objects and stories of incredible scientific achievement, it does not charge an entry fee. This is made possible in no small part by the outstanding effort of their excellent fundraising team. We were asked to deliver a workshop for staff who have the challenging task of directly asking visitors for donations as they enter and exit the museum.

Middle.

Our training helped members of the fundraising team, from all the Science Museum Groups sites (including National Media Museum, Museum of Science and Technology and the National Railway Museum). Their experience and professionalism showed, and allowed us to push them to refine what they were already good at by experimenting and taking a risk using story and storytelling, to practice new approaches to asking for a donation . They pulled together their joint experience and knowledge and incorporated what they had learnt into their usual messaging to each create pitches to fit the allocated 1 minute, without them feeling rushed or pushy.

End.

Participants shared their new pitches at the end, giving them all a selection to ‘borrow’ from on their next shift. The group left feeling more confident and at ease to approach visitors, to overcome the challenge of such a quick interaction and engage them with the possibility of donating.