Why Members Don’t Renew & How to Fix It
For many associations, retention has been a challenge this year because their members are struggling financially. In other associations, members are receiving more value than ever before, but dues invoices are going unpaid. What can you do about non-renewing members?
It’s best to raise this question long before you have a retention problem. If you take a proactive approach to the renewal process, you can prevent many non-renewals and recapture others through a re-engagement campaign.
But you can’t solve a problem you don’t understand. First, identify the reasons your members aren’t renewing, and then develop a proactive strategy to tackle these issues.
Why Members Don’t Renew: Lack of Engagement and Value
The most common reason for not renewing is a lack of engagement, according to Marketing General Inc.’s 2020 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report. When members don’t get involved or take advantage of member benefits, they don’t receive the expected membership value, so it’s not surprising the second and third most common reasons for not renewing are related to value:
- Budget cuts/economic hardship
- Inability to justify membership costs with any significant ROI
If membership delivered so much value that it became indispensable to a person’s career or a company’s success, members would find money in their budget for dues. But if they can’t show a return on their dues investment, they won’t be able or want to justify renewing.
How to Increase Membership Value—and Renewals
MGI’s survey data revealed a solution to the ROI challenge: associations that implemented a member engagement plan increased member retention. The plan can’t live only in your head. You need to document exactly how you plan to analyze, increase, and measure engagement. Start with a new member onboarding campaign during the first year of membership.
Pay attention to engagement data so you can identify inactive members in the first year and beyond. Segment members by interest, career stage, specialty, and/or other attributes and promote relevant programs, content, and volunteering opportunities to them. See who took advantage of specific programs. For example, members who were previously less active might have participated this past year in virtual conferences, courses, and networking meetups. If you announce a return to in-person only events, they have no incentive to stay.
The membership value or ROI issue hides behind many other reasons for not renewing:
- Membership is too expensive.
- The employer no longer pays for membership.
- The non-renewing member has no time to take advantage of benefits.
- They decided to join another membership organization instead.
- Membership didn’t live up to expectations.
These are all membership value or ROI issues. We’ve all experienced lots of change in the past year. You need to relook at your membership value proposition from the member’s and employer’s perspective. Don’t assume they value the same things they valued a few years ago.
Other Reasons Members Don’t Renew
Sometimes it’s not you, it’s them. MGI found that 33% of non-renewing members simply forgot to renew. Help them out by using your AMS to set up auto-reminders via email and a renewal alert on their member portal. Consider offering an auto-renewal option when members join so they don’t have to worry about renewing.
Some non-renewing members said they never received an invoice. Make sure you ask for a secondary email address and consider making it a required field.
Members also don’t renew when their career status changes, but lower priced dues categories can help. Offer a membership category for retired members so they can stay connected with their community and their purpose. Maintain goodwill and connections with unemployed members by offering a “professionals in transition” category.
How to Improve Renewal Campaigns
MGI says the third month from expiration is the most common month in which to start renewal efforts. Email is the most effective method for contacting members to renew their membership, with an average of four emails per renewal series. Direct mail and staff phone calls are the next most effective approaches. Make sure your renewal campaign uses a mix of methods in case you have a bad email address or they’re no longer in the office to receive mail.
You first have to get members to open your email before they can even think about renewing. MGI found that testing subject lines can improve open rates by more than 50%. Use free tools like CoSchedule and Omnisend to test subject lines.
Some associations have found success by including videos and stating it in their email subject lines. Tailor these to the member’s interests by including relevant testimonials from people like them. Address possible reasons for not renewing, like ways to find value despite a lack of time.
Exit Surveys: A Good Idea or Not?
The consensus on exit surveys is: they’re rarely returned, but they’re worth sending in an attempt to establish a connection with the non-renewing member. Keep the survey real brief. Never ask for information you should already have, for example, the benefits or activities they took advantage of. Members expect you to know that about them.
Ask first if they knew their membership expired—many don’t. Then ask why they’re leaving. Give them the option of checking boxes or explaining in an open-ended text box. That’s it, no more questions. You could offer a consultation on how to get more from their membership to see if they’ll bite.
Start Using Re-Engagement Campaigns
Maintain an open communication channel with lapsed members. Keep them in your AMS so you can track their activities and purchases. You might want to run a re-engagement campaign if you notice them picking up their activity. MGI says email generates the most reinstated lapsed members. Phone calls come in second place for trade associations and smaller individual membership associations.
Even if they never become members again, keep lapsed members in your universe as customers or attendees. Some employers are no longer paying for memberships but will pay for professional development. Continue to treat lapsed members as members of your extended community and let them know about relevant new programs, benefits, and opportunities.
Prevention is the best solution. Learn how the MemberSuite member portal can help you engage and retain members.