Category: innovation

Almost 14 years ago, I addressed a question first raised by Jeff Dc Canga:

How will we manage the change from a pre-set package of options (membership) to an individually negotiated exchange of value?

In that original post, I addressed issues of consumer expectations around mass personalization and customization, the concept of “cafeteria” membership, deciding whether or not to gate content, and the necessity of the occasional sacred cow barbecue.

As a commenter on that post put it:

Figuring out the balance between revenue needs, information sharing and the value proposition for membership is key to a vibrant association.

Exactly.

This topic seems to be at the fore again. I’ve recently had several inquiries and some new clients all looking to address their dues structure and value proposition.

I suspect this is another lingering effect of the pandemic. During the pandemic, many associations held the line HARD on dues increases while at the same time adding a bunch of new “included with membership” benefits. Which is totally logical: We were in a MASSIVE economic crisis, particularly in that first year, when then-president Donald Trump was badly mis-managing every single aspect of the public health emergency AND the economic emergency.

However, in the past four years, the situation has improved. Dramatically.

The US economy is now so strong, it’s literally propping up the entire global economy. The rate of inflation is up significantly, something we all feel every time we buy groceries, but job creation is at historic highs (as is the stock market), unemployment is at historic lows (particularly for people of color), and wage gains have outpaced inflation for more than a year.

Meanwhile, many associations are still, from the perspective of what we offer members and customers and what we charge for it, operating as if it’s April 2020.

Admittedly, it *is* hard to start charging for a benefit that’s been included with membership, particularly when that’s been the case now for several years. It *is* hard to raise dues appropriately when you’ve left them alone while inflation is up more than 20%.

All of this, to me, strongly indicates that it’s time, maybe past time, to examine your membership model.

• Are your dues structured in a way that makes sense for your profession or industry, not as it was in 2019, but as it now is?
• Should you shift your basis of dues calculation?
• Is your basis of dues calculation equitable within your profession or industry?
• What is your current cost to serve? Are your dues adequate to cover it?
• What *else* are you expecting dues revenue to cover? Is it appropriate to require members to fund those programs, products, or services as part of their membership?
• What are your “loss leaders”? Are you confident that’s the right approach for those particular programs, products, or services?
• What do your members most value and use? What *don’t* they value or use?
• Should your “included with membership” benefits change?
• Do some programs, products, and services need to move from “included” to “optional” (with fee)?
• Have some programs, products, or services outlived their usefulness? Is it time to take out some of those sacred cows?
• Did you discover some new programs, products, or services as a result of the pandemic economic crisis that were initially intended to be temporary, but have proved so valuable they need to be made permanent? If so, what infrastructure or process changes do you need to make so you can move from “making do” to “this to core to who we are”?
• Did new audiences find you during the pandemic? What are you doing to learn more about them and their key goals and biggest problems, so you can provide the solutions that generate long-term loyalty?
• Are you being intentional about what’s available only to members, what’s freely available to everyone, what’s included for members and offered at a fee to customers, and what’s offered at a (differential) fee to both members and customers?
• Are you still offering a “you can have it in any color you want, so long as it’s black” membership model? That may still be appropriate to your profession or industry. But maybe not.

As I concluded that original post 14 years ago, I don’t have THE answer to these questions. There isn’t ONE answer that fits for all associations (of course, I am available for hire to help you find the answers for YOUR association). But I do know that we need to figure out how to let our audiences have it their way in a way that makes sense for them, meeting their goals and challenges, and also for us, providing the financial stability we need to create those solutions for them.

Photo by amirali mirhashemian on Unsplash

I am reupping this post from 2009 with only minor edits, because every word of it remains true.

What if EVERY staff member had to talk to members on a regular basis?

Despite the existence of the idea “Membership is Everyone’s Business,” too often, it’s really not. Membership retention, for most organizations, is the business of the membership department. If retention goes down, the membership staff gets blamed, even if the reason people are leaving is because, for instance, they hate the monthly magazine. Or they’ve decided to focus their energies on their local chapters. Or they’re organizing online. Or the annual meeting’s gotten too expensive. Or whatever.

(And, while we’re on it, why are we always so concerned with affixing blame? It’s pointless. It stifles innovation, because people think “cover your ass” not “come up with and try amazing new idea.” And it wastes time and mental energy that would be better spent FIXING the PROBLEM. But I digress…)

I was hired for my first association job as Director of Member Services and Technology not because I knew anything about associations or management, but because I was from the profession, and the executive director figured I’d empathize with the members. And she was right. And that was great, as far as it went. Which was as far as one staff person – me. Not far enough, by a long shot.

We all talk about the idea that we exist to serve members, meet their needs, and help them solve their problems. But most of us have no real idea what those things are. We do annual satisfaction surveys and listen to and repeat conventional wisdom and swear that we’ve been doing this long enough to know every little thing about our members, their industry or profession, and what’s best for them.

RIIIIIIGHT.

You know the easiest way to find out what people want and need? Ask them. And not in some Likert-scale driven survey way.

“Hi there, Member. This is Elizabeth calling from Association. If you have a few minutes to chat, I’d love to find out what’s going on in your professional life, and if you have any questions or comments about what’s we’re up to here at Association.”

What do you get? Information, sure, but also connection. Community. A source of new ideas. The feeling that the association cares about me. Early warning of problems that might be cropping up, whether in your industry, or related to your association.

And, more importantly, it’s unfiltered. This is not meant to imply ill intent to your membership staff (often the only staffers who have regular contact with members). But everyone filters information they receive through their own mental maps. And someone with a different map might interpret the same data differently.

How would your association benefit from deep understanding of your members, their goals and challenges, and the industry or profession you serve, spread widely across the entire organization? What could you do with that?

Would your members think differently about the association when the renewal notices show up or when they arrive at your annual meeting if they felt connected, not only to other members through the agency of the association, but to the association itself through contact with staff?

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash