We’re all feeling the pressure from a lagging economy, especially associations. And if you haven’t felt it yet you’re probably bracing for the worst. In a recent poll conducted by ASAE the numbers of people deciding not to renew their membership in associations was broken down by age group. 38% of Generation Y (people born post 1977) and 32% of Generation X (born 1963-1976) had no plans of renewing memberships in associations. There was only a slight decrease (30%) in that number for people born in the late boom (1955-62). What does that mean for associations? It means it’s time to start appealing to these individuals by bringing them unexpected value. It may also mean taking on solutions you have not tried before.
In a recent survey entitled “Value of Associations in a Challenging Economy,” 63.6% of associations polled believed their revenue from dues membership would decrease this year. Certainly that’s bad news but let’s not get all Chicken Little about it. The sky is not falling. It’s merely providing some rough terrain for us to get over and during circumstances like this you want to make sure your association is doing everything possible to retain members.
This is not your Father’s/Mother’s Association: Gone are the days that someone would join an association just because of their chosen field of work or because their parent was a member. Members choose to be members and choose to stay members. How are you going to ensure they continue to do this year after year? One way to entice them is with the added value created by an online community (which is just a part of the association management software (AMS) package) from YourMembership.com. Be one of the leaders in embracing AMS technology and create a community your members want to be a part of and since many people forgo regular meetings, a virtual community is a great way to add value regardless of members’ locations or schedules. Members can connect with another, download educational materials, blog about their experiences, send internal messages, even upload photos and that’s just the beginning. Plus since we know how difficult it is to pull them away from other social networking software, we offer a feature called “My Networks,” which allows them to link to their other profiles (as well as their peers) through your site. Your website becomes a one-stop-shop for them en route to other sites and it increases the traffic on your site. Once they’re there, you’re sure to give them a reason to stay. The software is feature-rich and user-friendly.
Now We Go Where You Go: YourMembership.com’s site is mobile-ready (you can access your site anywhere you have a web connection). A Software as a Service (SaaS) model AMS is preferred over the traditional desktop software as it is no longer tied to one computer. You can administer and manage your site from any web-enabled device. No more being tied to your desk. Plus, since you can assign admin rights and duties to anyone — all they need is the Internet. No need for an installation tech or waiting for the mail to install the software. They can access and manage your content as easily as they can access the web. Plus SaaS allows you to always have the latest and greatest version of the program. No need to download or buy an upgrade. It’s provided to you by YourMembership.com as part of your purchase fee. And since all of our clients are running the same version with the same features (although you may choose not to use some) you can exchange best practices with one another easily.
What’s In It For You?: In short — everything. Adding value for your association members doesn’t mean added expense. You can give them a networking community with all the bells and whistles for less than you imagined (or were previously paying!). YourMembership.com’s association management software package is all-inclusive, no additional fees for additional members, admins, data storage or customer service.
All robust online community features are provided for one low fee. Features like:
- Membership & Dues Management
- Event Management with Registration
- Group & Chapter Homepages
- Blogs & Collaboration
- Interactive Surveys, Polls & Training
- eNewsletters & Bulk Messaging
- Data Exportation
All future upgrades and enhancements, unlimited customer service and training (a cost-effective way for you to make sure all of your office is trained on the program, no worries about in-house knowledge leaving with an employee. We’re happy to train the replacement(s) at no additional cost to you. ) and no additional modules to buy ever! Plus you have a say in our product development. We “crowd source” suggestions through our own web 2.0 product. Our developers gather ideas and input from our actual administrators using our product and you vote on the enhancements to establish the importance to you as users.
About YourMembership.com: Besides being extremely affordable and offering an incredible array of feature sets (both for the front-end member community AND your association management software back-end administrative system), we are quick to launch. We can have your site live in 72 hours! Plus there’s no long-term contract to sign and you are not penalized for your success. Our pricing is NOT based on member or admin numbers. It’s a low, flat yearly fee.
It’s hard to believe that we would offer all of this for one affordable price but your success is our success. We’ve been around for over a decade and serve more than 500 customers on all seven continents. Come see how we can help place you at the forefront of current technology.
