New Members, Familiar Numbers: Manitoba Agricultural Museum’s Next Chapter

Manitoba Agricultural Museum is welcoming new members online while keeping the personal connections that sustain its community. With Join It, the museum has moved from paper and spreadsheets to online membership administration, renewals and targeted communications. In its first year using the portal, the team has already noticed new subscriptions through its website’s “become a member” link.

Preserving history depends on people

At Manitoba Agricultural Museum, agricultural history comes to life through the people who keep it moving. Volunteers operate steam engines and tractors, demonstrate threshing and bring pioneer activities to life. The Manitoba Threshermen’s Reunion and Stampede is part of that tradition.

Those longstanding relationships matter behind the scenes, too. Some volunteers are attached to the membership numbers they have held for years. Any new approach to membership needed to respect that sense of belonging while making it easier for the museum to welcome people in.

Angie Klym, a volunteer who has also served on the museum’s board and executive, helped lead that change.

“When were assessing which platform to use, Join It scored ahead of the others just from the intuition and being able to use the service intuitively, not making it overly complicated.”

Angie Klym, volunteer, Manitoba Agricultural Museum

From maintaining old records to supporting new members

The museum’s membership administration had evolved from paper records to Excel. But information could become outdated, and the way it was organized depended heavily on the person maintaining it.

Lifetime memberships presented a particular challenge. Someone could move several times without needing to renew, leaving old contact details on file. Family records also needed attention when children grew up but were still associated with a shared email address.

For Angie, the next step was to create a dependable membership database that the museum could keep current. That would support the members it already knew and provide a more consistent process for those joining in the future.

After investigating several providers, the museum chose Join It. Angie found it intuitive for both administrators and members, an important consideration for a community with different levels of confidence using technology.

“Join It is a huge passion project of mine. Only with Join It can we correct all the data, get it as accurate as absolutely possible, and maintain it going forward.”

Keeping the numbers that meant something

Moving to Join It did not mean leaving the museum’s membership history behind. Angie prepared the records and retained its existing numbering system, preserving a familiar detail for longstanding volunteers.

The transition involved careful data preparation. Reviewing contact details and family records helped give members a better starting point when they came to renew online.

For other heritage organizations, the lesson is practical: identify the information your members value, clean the records and agree how your team will maintain them. Software and thoughtful preparation work together.

“That was just a huge step forward in being able to filter and clean out our communications with Join It.”

A simpler way to renew, with personal help still available

One of the encouraging changes was how members responded to online renewal. Angie was pleasantly surprised to see people she had expected to need assistance renewing and paying for themselves.

Join It gave those members a way to complete the process online. For the museum, that created an alternative to handling every renewal through a manual exchange.

Personal help remained available. Administrators could assist with profile updates and membership payments, while members comfortable using the online process could take care of their own renewal.

That flexibility mattered. The museum could introduce a more convenient membership experience while continuing to support the people who preferred a helping hand.

How the museum’s membership workflow changed

Connecting membership records with the right messages

The museum had used Mailchimp as a standalone newsletter tool for a mixed audience of members, volunteers and people interested in its activities.

Connecting Mailchimp with Join It helped the team target membership communications more clearly. Updates intended for members could be distinguished from broader public news.

Angie described the targeted communication experience as “seamless and easy to use.” The integration gave the museum a practical connection between its membership administration and its communications.

For a small team, knowing who a message is for is an important part of keeping people involved. Join It’s guide to connecting Mailchimp with a membership database explains how the integration can support that work.

Opening the door to new members online

The move to Join It also gave the museum a route from interest on its website to membership.

In a November 2026 update, Angie confirmed that the museum had noticed new membership subscriptions from people following the website’s “become a member” link during its first year with the Join It portal.

That is an encouraging step in the museum’s membership story. The website gives prospective members a place to begin, and Join It provides the online membership process behind it.

The museum’s next priority is to build on that foundation. Angie identified attracting new members as a focus for 2027, including thinking more clearly about people who want to support the museum and those who want a more active role.

The team has also been exploring Join It for ticket sales for its December Winter Wonderland event. That remains a possible next step, alongside its established use for memberships, renewals and targeted communications.

Building a process the whole team can use

The first year reinforced the importance of helping everyone use the membership system consistently.

At busy events, transactions handled outside the database could create reconciliation work afterward. The museum’s experience highlighted the value of preparing volunteers for common situations, including in-person renewals and members who need assistance.

For another museum making the transition, a short practice session before an event can help. Walk through a renewal, a payment and a profile update, then agree who will handle exceptions.

A shared process makes the database more useful for the people relying on it.

What other museums can take from the story

Manitoba Agricultural Museum’s experience shows how a membership system can support both continuity and change: familiar membership numbers for longstanding volunteers, online renewals for existing members and an online route for new people to join.

For teams evaluating museum membership software, useful questions include:

• Can members join and renew online while administrators help those who need support?
• Can important membership information be retained and maintained consistently?
• Can membership records support more relevant communications?
• Can staff and volunteers follow the same process during busy events?

Join It is relevant to the membership side of museum operations. Collection cataloging and other specialist museum requirements should be evaluated separately.

Frequently asked questions

How does Manitoba Agricultural Museum use Join It?

The museum uses Join It to maintain membership records, support online renewals and payments, and connect membership information with Mailchimp for targeted communications. Its website also directs prospective members to its online membership process.

Did the museum keep its existing membership numbers?

Yes. The museum retained its numbering system during the transition because those numbers carried personal meaning for some longstanding volunteers.

Can members still get help with renewal?

Yes. Members can renew online themselves, while administrators can help with profile updates and membership payments when needed.

Has the museum seen new members join through its website?

Yes. Angie reported new subscriptions through the website’s “become a member” link during the museum’s first year with the Join It portal. This is a customer-reported result; the museum has not supplied a quantified growth rate.

A new chapter for a longstanding community

Manitoba Agricultural Museum has brought its membership process online without losing sight of the people and traditions behind it.

With Join It, members can renew online, administrators can offer help where it is needed, and the team can connect membership records with more targeted communications. New subscriptions through the website offer an early sign of how that foundation can support the museum’s next chapter.

Explore Join It’s tools for arts, theaters and museums, or start a free Join It trial to try a simpler membership process for your organization.