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Mound House reports membership growth, rolls out digital membership cards as kayak tours rise
Summary
At its April 24 meeting, the Fort Myers Beach Coastal and Environmental Learning Center Advisory Board heard staff report that visitation and membership at the Mound House have increased through April and that staff has rolled out a digital membership card that most purchasers are using.
FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — At its April 24 meeting, the Fort Myers Beach Coastal and Environmental Learning Center Advisory Board heard staff report that visitation and membership at the Mound House have increased through April and that staff has rolled out a digital membership card that most purchasers are using.
Adam Knight, a staff member who presented the monthly operations report for April 1–24, told the board that “kayak tours have increased quite a bit, versus previous months,” and that outreach work had reached “over 1,077 individuals” through festivals, fairs and other events.
The membership shift was a major point in the report. Staff described a transition from physical membership cards to a digital card that can be stored in a phone’s wallet app; staff said only two or three members have requested paper cards. The report noted both renewal and new-member growth and listed revenue categories including admissions, rentals and merchandise.
Why this matters: the Mound House is a town-managed cultural and environmental site whose admissions, tours and membership sales contribute to operating revenue and public outreach. Increases in kayak-tour bookings and outreach attendance affect staffing, scheduling and marketing priorities for the site.
In other business, the advisory board recorded a unanimous consensus to allow two members to attend the meeting by Zoom. The board also approved minutes from its March 27, 2025 meeting; the motion to approve was moved by an unnamed member, seconded by Sherry Smith, and carried with no recorded opposition.
Details from the staff report: Knight summarized program metrics for the first 24 days of April, saying admission numbers have been stable while kayak tours and outreach participation have risen. The report mentioned social-media growth, ongoing marketing initiatives and a digital-membership rollout, which staff described as providing faster proof of membership at point of purchase and offering reciprocal benefits tied to higher-tier memberships. Staff told the board members may opt in to paper cards, but the majority have adopted the digital version.
Board members also corrected an earlier minutes item that mistakenly stated that Friends organization members were paying $2,000 a year for web services; the correction clarified that Friends did not make such a payment and that the earlier web-site update had been underwritten in part with Tourist Development Council funds in the past.
The advisory board did not take policy action beyond approving the minutes and recording consensus for remote participation. Staff said the monthly report covered operations through April 24 and will continue to be updated in future meetings.
