We're members of the New England Aquarium. Like most museum/zoo/park/etc. memberships, this entitles us to unlimited free visits during the year, discounts on food and gift shop purchases, and so on. IIRC, a family membership is $125 (I didn't go back and check for this post).
A few weeks after joining, we got a letter from the Aquarium stating that $17 of the $125 represented goods and services provided and therefore only $108 was deductible.
How the heck do they arrive at the $17? It seems way too low -- if we visit the aquarium two or three times in the course of a year the membership has already paid for itself, and everything after that is gravy.
I am/have been a member of other non-profit museums where they say right up front when joining that the entire dues are tax-deductible (though they also entitle you to unlimited free visits).
But I've also been a member of non-profit museums where nothing is said or claimed about dues deductibility and no letter is ever sent. So presumably none of the dues to those places are considered charitable contributions.
So what makes membership dues considered charitable contributions or not, and how is the non-deductible "goods and services" value arrived at?