Museum Ticketing System Broken? HubSpot Fixes It | Nonprofit Tech Shop

Museums today are transforming from static repositories of history into dynamic cultural destinations. But with this evolution comes a pressing need to streamline operations, enhance visitor engagement, and optimize revenue streams. E-commerce and CRM integration are at the heart of this transformation.

The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) manages 26 museums and historic sites across the state, including landmarks like Mill City Museum, Historic Fort Snelling, and Split Rock Lighthouse. As one of the largest state historical societies in the United States, MNHS handles a high volume of ticket sales, memberships, and donor data across its various locations. 

In this blog, we spotlight MNHS’s journey to moving its ticketing and CRM systems onto a unified HubSpot platform. 

The Problem with Legacy Systems: Why Museums Need a Modern CRM 

Legacy systems like Tessitura were once the gold standard for managing museum operations, but in today’s fast-paced digital landscape, their limitations have become glaringly apparent. While they may offer basic functionality, these platforms often fall short when it comes to meeting the complex demands of modern museums. 

Here’s why:

1. High Costs Without High Returns

Managing legacy systems is not only time-consuming but also expensive. At MNHS, the annual tech costs soared to $462,000. This included maintenance fees, integration expenses, and the operational burden of patching together outdated tools. These high costs cut directly into the budget that could be used for mission-critical activities like community outreach, exhibit curation, and educational programming.

2. Fragmented and Siloed Data

Modern museums rely on seamless communication between ticketing, donor management, and marketing tools to deliver cohesive visitor experiences. Legacy platforms often require third-party integrations that result in fragmented data, forcing staff to manually reconcile information across multiple systems. This inefficiency not only wastes time but also increases the risk of errors, an issue MNHS experienced firsthand.

3. Steep Learning Curves

Legacy systems can be notoriously complex, requiring extensive training and specialized knowledge just to complete routine tasks. At MNHS, this steep learning curve hampered productivity, as staff members struggled to navigate an outdated interface instead of focusing on engaging visitors and growing the museum’s impact.

4. Limited Scalability

As museums expand their programming, reach, and audiences, they need systems that can scale with them. Legacy systems often fall behind in this regard, forcing organizations to invest in piecemeal solutions that only exacerbate the inefficiencies. For MNHS, the inability to scale their platform meant struggling to keep up with increased demands, particularly during high-traffic seasons or major events.

5. Missed Opportunities for Growth and Engagement

With limited data accessibility and slow processes, legacy systems often prevent museums from leveraging valuable insights. At MNHS, this led to missed opportunities for donor engagement, membership growth, and personalized visitor experiences. Instead of being proactive, the staff was left reacting to problems caused by their outdated tools.

From Overwhelmed to Optimized: The MNHS Transformation

MNHS partnered with Nonprofit Tech Shop to move their systems into HubSpot, unlocking automation, data centralization, and a dramatically better visitor experience.

Results at a glance:

📈 30% boost in staff productivity
💰 $120,000 saved annually by cutting integration fees
🎟️ 15% increase in event attendance from personalized outreach

How?

• All historical ticketing and donor data (from tools like Shopify) was migrated into HubSpot for a clean, unified system.

• Custom solutions supported tiered pricing, member discounts, and easy online purchasing.

• Automated emails guided visitors from ticketing to check-in to post-event engagement, no manual steps required.

• HubSpot Features That Power Museum Success

  
  

  1. United Platform

  • Cross-Platform Integration: HubSpot’s compatibility with tools like Shopify, Eventbrite, and Stripe ensures a seamless workflow across ticketing, payments, and CRM. This flexibility lets museums enhance operations without costly system overhauls.

  • Enhanced User Experience: Staff experience reduced training time with HubSpot’s intuitive interface, and visitors benefit from a seamless ticketing and admissions journey.

  • Scalability for Future Growth: HubSpot scales to handle increased ticket sales, larger membership programs, and expanded operational needs, making it ideal for museums preparing for long-term growth.

  Feature	How It Sets HubSpot Apart	Why It Matters for Museums
  Multi-Tool Integration	Native integrations with leading e-commerce platforms.	Avoids costly custom integrations; retains existing tools.
  Unified Visitor Profiles	Combines ticketing, membership, and donor interactions.	Provides a complete view of engagement for tailored outreach.
  Role-Based Access Controls	Allows staff to see only what’s relevant to their roles.	Improves security and simplifies workflows for teams.
  Mobile-Friendly Accessibility	Optimized for use on tablets and smartphones.	Enables on-the-go updates during events or tours.
  Multi-Location Management	Manages data across several sites within one system.	Ideal for museums with multiple locations or programs.

  
  

  2. Real-Time Reporting
  
  HubSpot’s reporting tools are tailored to museums, providing actionable insights at a glance.

  • Customizable Dashboards: Create dashboards that display key metrics like ticket sales, attendance trends, and donor engagement in real-time.
  • 
    Visitor Behavior Analysis: Track visitor preferences and behaviors to inform exhibit planning and personalized marketing.
  • 
    Agile Decision-Making: Use live data to pivot strategies during campaigns or events, optimizing outcomes without delay.
    
    

  Metric	Why It Matters	Example Insight
  Ticket Sales Trends	Identify peaks and slow periods to adjust campaigns.	Spike in sales during special exhibits.
  Visitor Demographics	Tailor programming to meet audience needs.	Younger audiences prefer evening events.
  Membership Renewal Rates	Gauge loyalty and refine renewal processes.	High drop-off after the first year—time to improve onboarding!

   

3. Marketing Automation

Automation ensures every interaction is personalized, timely, and impactful.

• Targeted Onboarding Campaigns: Automatically send welcome emails to first-time ticket buyers with tips on must-see exhibits or exclusive tours.
• 
  Event Promotion: Schedule and personalize reminders for upcoming events, ensuring higher attendance rates.
• 
  Membership Retention: Automate renewal notices and upsell campaigns, increasing membership retention and boosting revenue.
  
  

The Impact of Legacy Limitations

The operational hurdles at MNHS reflect a common,  widespread challenge for many cultural institutions.

Constant technical bottlenecks end up draining the time and energy your team should be spending on the museum's actual mission. Museums exist to connect people to culture, history, and knowledge, but without the right tools, those connections are harder to forge and sustain.

This is why many organizations are recognizing the urgent need to replace legacy systems with modern, integrated solutions like HubSpot.

Building Deeper Connections Through HubSpot

When it comes to museum marketing, HubSpot is an absolute powerhouse for forging meaningful relationships.

For MNHS, the implementation of HubSpot transformed how the institution engaged with its diverse audiences, streamlining operations while deepening connections.

Addressing Common Pain Points: MNHS’s Challenges

Before adopting HubSpot, MNHS faced several obstacles that are all too familiar for museums:

• ❌ Fragmented Data: Donor, member, and visitor information was scattered across disconnected systems, leading to inefficiencies and missed opportunities for engagement.
  
  
• ❌ Manual Processes: Renewing memberships, acknowledging donations, and promoting events required heavy administrative workloads, slowing response times.
  
  
• ❌ Limited Personalization: Without cohesive data, MNHS struggled to deliver tailored campaigns that resonated with individual audiences.

✔️ By leveraging HubSpot, MNHS overcame these pain points, creating a centralized system that fostered both operational efficiency and meaningful interactions.

How HubSpot Helped MNHS Build Stronger Relationships

1. Self-Service Portals:

HubSpot enabled MNHS to offer secure, user-friendly portals where members could update their profiles, manage memberships, and review ticket purchases. This empowered members to engage on their own terms while reducing staff workload.

📌I mpact at MNHS:

• Members enjoyed exclusive access to event pre-sales and member-only discounts, strengthening loyalty. Staff saved significant time by eliminating routine administrative tasks, reallocating resources to strategic initiatives.

2. Automated Membership Renewals:

MNHS automated its membership renewal process with HubSpot, sending personalized reminders that included tailored offers, such as discounts on upcoming events or thank-you messages for ongoing support.

📌 Impact at MNHS:

• Membership renewals increased by 20%, stabilizing revenue and reducing churn.
• Members felt valued, as renewal messages highlighted their specific contributions and interests.
  
  3. Behavior-Driven Campaign Personalization:
  
  With HubSpot, MNHS could track visitor behavior, like ticket purchases, event attendance, and donation patterns, and use that data to craft targeted campaigns.
  
  

📌 Impact at MNHS:

• One-time ticket buyers received offers to become members, increasing conversion rates. Loyal visitors were invited to exclusive behind-the-scenes events, fostering a deeper connection to the institution.
• 
  4. Driving Insights with Data

One of HubSpot’s most impactful features for MNHS was its analytics, which offered a window into visitor behavior and organizational performance.

📌 Impact at MNHS:

• Access to real-time analytics allowed MNHS to refine active campaigns and tailor programming to specific visitor interests, leading to higher overall attendance. The ability to measure the exact return on investment for these promotional efforts also ensured that marketing resources were allocated more efficiently across the organization.