Re: How to win FRIENDS but risk losing money

> And least you think that these largely-volunteer operations do this for fun,
That's the key... I'm glad someone else brought it up first.
The C&TS (or D&SNG) is not a totally volunteer organization. The crews that "supervise" during the program have to be paid. The program has to be burdened by overhead, labor and benefits costs. A museum that is staffed totally by volunteers can disregard these costs and pocket the revenue.
While on the surface, such a program looks like a possible source of revenue and PR, it's really a distraction from the real business and would have a low, if not negative, ROI.