Your membership committee plays a vital role in your association—guiding conversations about key membership benefits, identifying potential member pain points, and strategizing solutions to better support your members.
We’re here to help you enhance your membership committee! Empower your membership committee to do its important work by following the strategies in this blog.
What is a membership committee and why is it important to your association?
A membership committee is a volunteer-based group of members, serving to improve the member experience at an association. Members who serve on the committee have a range of backgrounds and experiences making them fit for leadership.
The team leads a variety of member-based initiatives to improve your organization, including but not limited to data-based membership initiatives, the streamlining of key member processes, and DEI programming. Because members make up your membership committee, they can offer important insights your membership staff may miss.
10 elements to include in your membership committee’s guide
Your membership committee is key to enhancing your member experience. As you grow the reach of your membership committee, consider including these ten crucial factors in your membership committee guide:
1. Purpose. In your membership committee guide, you’ll want to consider detailing the goals and focus of your entire membership committee. Offering a clear explanation of your membership committees’ purpose will ensure your members know why they are serving on this committee.
2. Role. You’ll also want to ensure you clarify each committee member’s role in your guide. Due to your association’s large size, your membership committee is likely broken into subcommittees. However, providing a clear explanation of each member’s role will offer great insight.
3. Responsibility. Because of your organization’s large size, you might consider providing a responsibility flowchart in your membership committee guide. A responsibility flowchart can be especially helpful if your membership committee is divided into subcommittees, ensuring serving members know their role in the larger organization.
4. Supporting staff. Including information about your membership support staff liaison will ensure your committee will know where to turn if they have questions or concerns. In your membership committee guide, dedicate an entire section to your support staff liaison, including role details and contact information.
5. Volunteer opportunities. In your guide, highlight the value of volunteering on your membership committee. Share information about the various member initiatives they’ll oversee and detail the member perks that come with volunteering. Including this information in your membership committee guide will encourage more members to volunteer.
6. Membership cycle. In your membership committee guide, you’ll want to include details about your entire membership cycle, including recruitment information and methods, the member application process, and the steps it takes to enroll a new member. Providing a membership timeline that outlines your year-long list of committee activities could also be helpful.
7. Application process. What does the current application process look like for your membership committee? Detail the process in your membership committee guide and be sure to include the selection time frame too.
8. In-person and virtual meetings. Establish your member expectations for both in-person and virtual meetings. Providing these guidelines and reviewing them with your serving members ensures they know the expected conduct. Should an issue arise, you can always refer your members to your membership committee guide.
9. Eligibility. In your membership guide, you’ll want to include information about who is eligible to serve on your membership committee. Who is encouraged to serve as a regular committee member? What about chairs or co-chairs? Establishing these guidelines will make it easier for more members to serve on your committee.
10. Promote member resources. Keep all your members informed about the latest membership committee initiatives through your online community platform. Share membership resources and promote exciting updates to all your members to encourage engagement.
Leverage your online community to create a private membership committee group so your serving members can connect between meetings and share important documents.
