Why should I join the Alliance? What type of membership is right for me?
AAM membership offers a wealth of benefits to museums, museum professionals, industry partners, and our allies in the community. In addition to developing industry best practices and advocating for museums, AAM also provides opportunities to museum staff and volunteers to support, connect, and share knowledge with each other. To determine which type of membership is best for you, please visit our About Membership page.
What is the difference between a Museum Membership and an Individual Membership?
Museum memberships provide staff members of a museum with professional resources, such as access to the Member-Only Resource Library. Individual memberships provide an individual museum professional with many of the same resources as museum membership, in addition to a digital and/or printed copy of Museum magazine plus peer-to-peer networking with thousands of museum professionals. You may explore both membership types here.
My museum would like to join the Alliance. However, when I try to purchase a museum membership online, I get an error message.
We are thrilled that you’d like to join the Alliance as a new museum member! However, we will need to create a record for your museum in our database first. If you can’t find your museum when you try to join online (you receive an error message), please fill out this form and email or mail it back to us. We will contact you once a record has been created.
I’d like to give a gift membership. How can I do that?
Our memberships are perfect for any person who works in museums, libraries, archives, or public history. Give the gift of AAM membership and connect your recipient with networking opportunities, a wealth of information in our Resource Library, discounts on publications and events, as well as our award-winning bi-monthly Museum magazine.
To purchase the gift of membership, please fill out this form and submit it to membership@aam-us.org. Memberships may take up to a week for AAM staff to process. Upon processing, recipients will immediately receive a welcome email detailing their newly available resources and how to access them. New memberships are active from the day we process your gift, so they make a great last-minute gift! If a recipient has an existing membership, your gift membership will begin when their current membership term ends. As part of processing, AAM staff will check to see if your recipient has a membership.
When is my membership active? Do I need to wait for my membership card to begin enjoying my benefits?
Your membership is active as soon as you complete your membership purchase, with the exception of a Student Membership. All of your resources and benefits are fully accessible on our website and can be used the same day you join or renew. Please allow one week from the date of purchase for Student Memberships to be activated as staff will manually check for proof of enrollment before benefits are activated.
What is the All Staff Package?
The All Staff Package is a cost-effective way for Tier 3 museums to offer an Individual Professional membership to every member of their staff at a group rate. Each staff member included in an All Staff Package is eligible to join AAM’s professional networks, in addition to receiving their own print subscription to Museum magazine and a personal AAM membership card.
How much does it cost to become an Individual Member?
Individual memberships are currently available to Professionals, Students, and Retired Museum Professionals. Membership dues for Professionals are $90 annually; discounts are available to professionals who work for our Tier 2 ($72) and Tier 3 ($45) museum members. Student and Retired Museum Professional memberships are $50 annually.
How much does it cost to become a Museum member?
Museum Membership dues are based on the selected tier of membership. Tier 3 and Tier 2 dues are based on the museum’s staff size. Tier 1 dues are based on a pay what you can model.