YourMembership.com Blog

Ideas to help you engage, empower and retain members

Five Tips to Rock Membership from Moose

May 15th, 2012 | Posted in Member Engagement + Retention

The following is a guest post from Lynda Baldwin at Communication Strategies Group, Inc., an award-winning communications firm based in Chicago, Illinois.

Moose?  Who’s heard of Moose?  Well, as it turns out, quite a few people have.  In fact, 1.1 million men and women are currently members.  But like many other membership-based organizations, the Moose often finds itself riding through the peaks and valleys of member recruitment.   Generally, its membership drive relies on existing members sticking around year after year and reaching out to recruit their friends to join, too.

While this has proven effective on a grassroots basis, it’s not necessarily the most effective membership-recruitment approach at the macro level.

Enter Heard of Moose? (www.heardofmoose.org) This pilot public education campaign is the first of its kind for the Moose, and it was no small task.  It incorporates paid advertising in the Tampa market – encompassing buses, bus shelters, billboards, online and newspapers – public relations; social media AND grassroots marketing. And while there may not be a magic bullet for effective recruitment outreach, we’ve identified a few commonalities that you might want to consider before launching your next campaign.      Read the rest of this entry »

Membership Must Have Its Privileges

May 9th, 2012 | Posted in Member Engagement + Retention, Social Media and Business Trends

There’s been a lot of talk recently by social media pundits about what they charge for and what is free. It used to be that someone could buy you a cup of coffee or lunch and “pick your brain.” But as more and more people hang their “consultant” shingles, allowing for free brain picking negatively effects their bottom line. So they erect a toll as gated entry into their heads. Writers have the same problem. From our friends to our family, people are always asking us to write them a little something or tweak their resume. While blogging has increased the size of our platform, it has also decreased our value.

Member-based organizations are fighting similar battles. Read the rest of this entry »

Pay Attention to What They’re Asking

May 4th, 2012 | Posted in Member Engagement + Retention

No matter how hard any of us try, sometimes you just can’t help the person on the other end of the line. Maybe they want something you don’t offer, maybe they’re looking for advice you can’t give. No matter what the issue is, good customer service keeps what is being asked in mind and the (possible) underlying factors behind it. There’s more than just an answer needed, there’s a way in which to convey the message and make the most of this opportunity to help. For instance, if a member of your organization is requesting a reduction in dues payment because of economic difficulties, don’t use your usual canned close of “Have you purchased your ticket for our event yet?”

Auto-pilot and canned responses kill the human element necessary to succeed in customer service. When you’re faced with a question that you cannot answer to the member’s satisfaction: Read the rest of this entry »

Are Innovation and Production at Odds?

May 3rd, 2012 | Posted in Member Engagement + Retention, Membership Management, Social Media and Business Trends

HBR posted a good article recently about Why Managers Don’t Really Want to Innovate. The article pointed out that most companies are not willing to devote time to innovation because innovative time steals from production time.

Since innovation has been a topic of interest to associations and other member-based organizations, we’re wondering if you’ve had the same experience?

Innovation time may take away from production (or event planning) time in the short run but in the long term, assessing and reassessing the way you conduct business and your offerings is beneficial to your organization. It keeps it vital and attractive to potential members.  The benefit to staff and process remaining the same over time is consistency but it’s also a downfall as there is a tendency to continue on auto-pilot. The staff and board have spent years formulating best practices and now they work, automated like a factory line. It’s efficient but not sexy. If it’s been years since the topic of best practices has been visited it may not even be the most efficient way of doing business. Has software been introduced that could simplify your daily tasks? Are there new types of events you could be offering or can you introduce new features into events (like Twitter that will improve your communication and connection to and with members? Read the rest of this entry »

What is Your Employee’s Secret Identity?

May 1st, 2012 | Posted in Member Engagement + Retention

If you are a fan of superheros, you understand the concept of secret identities. By day the person is a serious newspaperman…billionaire…student…insert random occupation here. By night they are a caped…masked…or otherwise unidentifiable crime fighter.

Every employee or volunteer has a secret identity as well. There are things they do in their “off time” that can help (or hurt, but that’s a different blog post) your organization. Uncover these secrets by getting to know them and you might be surprised at how much stronger these hidden skills make your organization. Did you know your membership director writes novels on the side? Who better to tell the story of your association? Did you know your alumni director used to run a catering company and her culinary skills could be donated as part of your next auction? Uncovering the specifics behind what makes your people special not only helps your organization make the most of its resources, it also allows people to do something they love to help a group they believe in. Sometimes they don’t offer the service because they don’t see a tie-in between their hobby and your needs. Explore these possibilities with a little creative thinking and a lot of communication.

Your interest in them will make them feel valued and their uncovered skills will bring more depth to your offerings.

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