We’re all bracing for membership drops (ok here at Mariner we’re home to three associations worriedly watching the renewal numbers). Let’s take the worry and put it to work productively. And here are three actionable ways from MemberSuite’s post “Rethink Membership Benefits to Make Your Association Indispensable.”
Drive home Community and Belonging … Tap into members’ cravings for community and belonging by talking about how a member benefits from belonging to your community (not talking online community platform here), especially during tough times. And play up how Chapters fill an important community role now that members won’t be traveling as much. Idea: take a hybrid approach to events: combine a virtual element hosted by your association with small meetings hosted by chapters.
Expertise … 15 minutes of staff expertise might be worth the price of membership. Whether it’s legal, regulatory, business management, or educational coaching advice, access to staff expertise is a valuable membership benefit.
Purpose … Tap into the need to having a purpose by identifying and publicizing micro-volunteering opportunities. RAPS did this recently in creating a micro job to help tag content – it was very successful in connecting members to a purpose.
Read the full post for more … and then ask, how can we engage members differently to keep members in the family?