3 steps to take your association’s member data to the next level

Your member data is a powerful asset for your association. Here’s how to make the most of it – even when you have a small staff.  

As the new year gets underway, you’re probably taking stock of your association – finding ways to make improvements and grow your organization. As you evaluate your association, one thing to consider is how well your association is managing and using member data. 

Your member data is a powerful resource for your organization. It can give you insights into your membership base, help you to provide a better member experience, and drive more informed business decisions. Make sure you’re making the most of it! 

Here are three steps to help you take your use of member data to the next level: 

1. Centralize your data.

Using an all-in-one association management software (AMS) system like YourMembership AMS by Community Brands can help your organization to collect, secure, manage, analyze, and use your data more effectively. Here are some of the benefits of centralizing your data using YourMembership:

• It’s much more convenient, efficient, and effective than trying to manage member data in multiple systems and spreadsheets.
• It helps you to safeguard your data through password best practices and multi-factor authentication, which requires your AMS users to enter a unique code upon entry of admin login credentials. Only when the valid provided code is entered will users be granted access.
• It helps you to not only gather information about members, but also provide them with the personalized benefits they’re seeking. For example, based on your members’ interests and preferences, you can recommend new industry reports or new services offered by your organization.

• It helps you to manage everything from your membership and event registration to an online member community – in one location.
   

TIP: Make sure your data is accurate and consistent. Create a data governance strategy around what type of data you collect, how long you keep it, how you use it, and how you secure it. Read the guide, Everything You Need to Know About Data Governance to learn more about the importance of data governance and how to put together a data governance policy for your association.  

2. Track and analyze your data.

With all of your data in one place, you can use it to spot membership trends and new opportunities for growth. Here are some effective approaches:

• Define and track metrics – Create a list of key performance indicators (KPIs) that help you track progress toward your association’s goals. Then, set up dashboards in your AMS system to give you a quick overview of your association’s health each day.
• Set up reports – Set up more detailed reports for each key function in your association. For example, you might set up a membership report that includes overall membership trends (such as new members, lapsed members, etc.) and a breakdown of membership demographics. You could also set up a marketing report that tracks website visits, email click-through rates, and online member community engagement.
• Make your data come alive – Use advanced data analytics tools for data visualizations that give you additional insights into various functions across your organization.  

TIP: YourMembership AMS includes dashboard and reporting functionality, plus advanced data analytics capabilities, to help you track and analyze your data.  

3. Become more data-driven.

With your data in one secure system and the tools you need to track and analyze your data, you have what you need to become a more data-driven association. Making data-driven decisions is about moving beyond hunches and guesses to regularly using insights from your data to inform your business decisions.

Schedule a regular meeting to review reports for each key function in your organization. Discuss things like:

• Membership trends
• What the data is telling you
• What you might do to reverse trends that are moving in the wrong direction
• What opportunities the trends might present to offer new programs or benefits that will help your association grow  

TIP: Using your member data to inform your business decisions can make it easier to manage your association, make improvements, and deliver a better member experience. Learn more tips in the guide, How to Become a Data-Driven Association.

Learn more. 

Having the right technology in place makes it easier to gather, protect, and use your member data to grow your association. Learn more about how YourMembership AMS can help your small association continue to improve and grow: Explore YourMembership. 

By Kyela Bishop, YourMembership Marketing Coordinator, Community Brands