2 Reasons to Switch Your Focus from Members to Customers

Looking to increase your association's revenue this year? It may be in your best interest to focus on increasing your non-member—or customer—sales rather than putting all of your effort into recruiting new members. Non-members often pay more for the events and benefits that are included in your membership packages. This could ultimately make non-members more profitable for your association.

This is not to indicate that you should not work to retain your members’ happiness. They are vital to the core of the organization. A shift of focus, however, to the non-members might help to bring in more income for the upcoming year. The shift should change the board’s mindset from how to recruit this member to how to have this person choose our products and experiences.

1 . Increased Revenue from Webinars

 Many businesses will not pay for an employee’s full membership but will reimburse an employee for professional development opportunities. If your association is hosting a webinar that applies to something within that person’s industry, they can show the value of this to their employer and attend. The guest-cost will bring in a little extra revenue for each event.

2. Wide Variety of Guests at Events

If the goal of your organization is to network and connect with others in the industry, having a set of recurring guests that are not at every event, will also keep your members happy. They will then have the opportunity to network with new faces rather than the same members that come to everything. This will increase their value and will help to retain current members’ memberships.

This change in mindset, is beneficial to the organization in small doses. At the end of the day, the mission of your association should be at the forefront of all decisions. Sometimes, however, achieving that mission requires money and this is one option for reaching that financial goal. Learn how Impact can help your association achieve its goals—financial and otherwise.

3 Methods for a Personal Approach to Member Onboarding

When a new member joins an association, they might feel a little lost. It is your job as a board to make them feel welcomed and ensure they have all of the resources they need to make the most out of their membership. Sure, you can send a welcome email to your new member and you should. It is important, however, to connect even further. This can be done through a mentorship program, webinar, or group meeting.

1.     Mentorship program.

Either utilize your membership committee or create a new committee that serves the purpose of welcoming new members. Each member of the committee would then be assigned to a new member. They can either reach out to the new member via a phone call, a coffee meet up, or at one of your association’s events. This designated contact will give the new member a friendly face to look for and a resource in their transition into the organization.

2.     Webinar.

If there are many details involved with the benefits of your organization, it might be a good idea to do a quarterly webinar for new members. This webinar could go over the ins and outs of their membership and would allow a time for the new members to ask any questions they might have.

3.     Group meeting.

Similar to a webinar, if you are all local to one another, try getting the group of new members together for a happy hour or dinner. This allows for conversation and questions and familiarizes the new members with one another.

Whatever approach you choose to take to further connect with new members, will help to make those members feel a sense of community in the association. This feeling when onboarding can not only make for a happier member but also a better chance of member retention.

4 Ways to Prevent Lapsed Members

Every member of an association adds value in both the experience to other members and financially. It has also been said time and time again that it is easier to retain a member rather than recruit new ones. With that being said, your board should be doing everything possible to retain members! Here are four strategies to keep those members from jumping ship. 

1.     Let them know when their expiration date is official.

They may have ignored previous emails that warned them of their membership ending. An email letting them know that their membership has officially come to an end can give them that extra push to renew. Bold the fact that their membership has expired and list all of the things that they will no longer be able to do without membership.

2.     Follow through with inactivation.

Make sure that your database is maintained accurately. Do not leave someone as a member in your website, assuming that they will pay their dues soon. Marking them as inactive will take away their access, preventing them from being able to follow through with member actions and resources.

3.     Send a past due notice.

If the member has still not renewed after three months, send them a follow-up email to let them know their membership fees are past due. Give them a new due date to pay by and provide them with contact information for any questions.

4.     Send a final message.

The final message should be a thank you for their membership. It can also include a note to the member that their involvement will always be welcomed, should they choose to rejoin in the future.

Staying in consistent communication with lapsed members is the best way to stay at the top of their minds. The goal is for at least one of these reminders to be convincing and catch them at the right time to follow through with renewal.

The New Member Welcome

When you join or sign up for something new, it is always nice to immediately feel like you are getting something out of it. This is no different when it comes to an association. There should be clear steps as to what happens when a new member joins and if these are not already in place, it is time to start brainstorming!

1. Welcome Email. Have your new member automatically receive a welcome email. This email should include a re-explanation of their benefits, information on how to log in to the website, and where to find different resources. This will help them to quickly become familiar with the system and will reach them at the time they are most excited about their membership.

2. Buddy System. Appoint someone on the board or a member on the membership committee to buddy up with the newbie. This gives that person a point of contact they can go to with questions, concerns or to get more involved.

3. Check back in. After around 6 months, check back in with the new member to see how they are liking the group. This could be done through a survey or just a quick email. This check-in will let you know if your system needs some changes for future new members.

Creating these onboarding steps will help to ensure member retention and growth. The happier the member is the more likely they will be to refer the organization to a friend and to stay in the group themselves.