Category: membership

Why Is Membership the Only Relationship?

Posted on | by Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE | 10 Comments on Why Is Membership the Only Relationship?

Way back in March at ASAE’s Great Ideas Conference, I had the opportunity to participate in an early morning conversation facilitated by Jeff de Cagna. Rob Barnes (at the time of Fitness Australia and now of Aptify) and Bob Rich (the American Chemical Society), Jeff and I debated the member relationship and, more specifically, why membership associations insist on behaving as if membership is the only relationship people can have with us.

I’ve been rolling this idea around in my head ever since then, and even promised a later blog post. Well, this is it.

Historically, associations have focused heavily, even exclusively, on the membership relationship. Makes sense, right? After all, we’re membership associations.

The thing is, we have LOTS of other stakeholders and potential stakeholders, don’t we? Just to name a few: volunteers (committee or ad hoc), subscribers, advertisers, authors, in-person event attendees, virtual event attendees, presenters, speakers, accreditation holders, certification holders, certification students, members of our industry or profession who aren’t association members, beneficiaries of our advocacy work, government officials, legislators (local, state, federal), customers who “just” want to buy products or services from us, our members’ customers, vendors and suppliers who serve our members, and even, in some cases, the general public. And I’m sure there are others.

We have managed to formalize some of these relationships. We offer sponsorships for vendors who want access to our members. We offer non-member rates for publications and events. We track CE credits for our certification holders.

But we also push all these people towards membership. In fact, taking any of the above actions is guaranteed to turn you into a membership lead, who will be pursued relentlessly until she joins or tells us to piss off (or just starts ignoring everything we send her).

Why does everyone have to be a member? Why are we still operating with the “you can have it in any color you want so long as it’s black” mindset? The world has changed to one of mass customization, and we aren’t keeping up with people’s expectations and experiences.

In order to continue to thrive, associations need to figure out ways of formalizing other relationships than the member relationship and allowing space for informal relationships as well. We need to study our audiences far more deeply and extensively, learn about them and what they want, and then become more flexible in our attitudes and offerings in order to meet them where they are, rather than demanding they all fit into the one box we’re willing to provide.

 

Next-Gen Membership

Posted on | by Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE | 1 Comment on Next-Gen Membership

I recently had the opportunity to be interviewed by the nice folks at Naylor for Association Adviser TV. One of the questions they asked me to address was: What are the top three things that an association can do maintain the value proposition for the next generation of membership?

  1. You must understand the difference between life stage characteristics and generational  characteristics. Are Millennials slow to join and participate in associations for generational reasons, or because the oldest of them are in their late 20’s and they’re just figuring out the whole job/career thing. There are lots of “generational experts” out there who will say they can answer that question for you. To my way of thinking, the gold standard is the Lifecourse Associates work of William Strauss and Neil Howe, and the answer, likely, is, “don’t freak out – this is a life stage issue.”
  2. That said, there is a generational problem on the horizon – the hourglass issue. I’ve written about this before, but the short version is that, while a much larger Millennial generation is coming, associations are going to have to figure out how to bridge the Gen-X gap between the large Boomer and Millennial generations. One way to do that is by keeping retiring members involved through mentoring, teaching, and fundraising.
  3. Finally, check your assumptions. Even the best generational cohort research consists of generalizations. To really know what’s going on in your industry or profession, you have to actually talk to your members and other audiences about their lives, experiences, needs, and preferences. Associations must shift from the mindset that we have to be 100% right and 100% perfect all the time to the start up mindset of “launch in beta, experiment, actively solicit feedback, learn, and iterate.” Regardless of generation, your members will cut you slack if you let them know what’s going on. Really they will.

What do you think associations need to focus on to remain vital resources for the next generation of members and other audiences coming up?

 

Association Alumni Networks

Posted on | by Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE | 3 Comments on Association Alumni Networks

I was recently reading an article in Harvard Business Review on the changing employer-employee relationship. The main point of the article, to quote, is:

The time has come, we [authors Reid Hoffman, Ben Casnocha, and Chris Yeh] believe, for a new employer-employee compact. You can’t have an agile company if you give employees lifetime contracts—and the best people don’t want one employer for life anyway. But you can build a better compact than “every man for himself.” In fact, some companies are doing so.

Hoffman, Casnocha, and Yeh propose taking lessons from start-ups and learning to work with and accommodate the “entrepreneurial” employee. They have a lot of interesting suggestions, and if you have time, I recommend reading the entire article, but one in particular drew my attention: Employee Alumni Networks.

Again, to quote:

The first thing you should do when a valuable employee tells you he is leaving is try to change his mind. The second is congratulate him on the new job and welcome him to your company’s alumni network.

The idea behind employee alumni networks is similar to that behind college alumni networks: they allow you to maintain long-term relationships with good people after your formal relationship ends, and for them to keep affiliation with you, even if they no longer have a direct financial relationship with you.

According to the article, 98% of Fortune 500 companies have formal or informal employee alumni networks. The benefits to the company include rehires, expanding your network of evangelists, new business opportunities, and collecting competitive intelligence.

The authors also stress that there needs to be a two-way exchange of value. They posit things like discounts, company swag, free insights or intelligence reports, and alumni newsletters for company alumni.

It got me thinking: why don’t we have association alumni networks?

When members leave, we tend to write them off. Why? Members leave for a variety of reasons that may have nothing to do with the association: they changed careers, they retired, their employer stopped supporting(financially or philosophically or both) association membership, etc.

What if, rather than treating them as disloyal pariahs, we could figure out a way to keep them engaged as an alumni audience?

Why wouldn’t your association want to get the benefits of rejoins, added evangelists, information sharing, and new business opportunities?

What could you offer to your membership alums? A LinkedIn or Facebook group? Discounts? A special newsletter? Association swag? Occasionally sending them a free publication?

I think this all gets to a larger question I plan to address in an upcoming post: why do we feel compelled to act as if “membership” is the only relationship people can have with our associations?

The Looming Retirement Crisis

Posted on | by Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE | 5 Comments on The Looming Retirement Crisis

No, I don’t mean the typical “Boomers haven’t saved enough!” wailing, although that’s certainly likely to be a problem. I mean the hourglass problem.

As in, there are somewhere between 72-79 million Baby Boomers, and there are a lot fewer Gen-Xers. I’ve seen figures ranging from 39-49 million, and I find it telling that while it’s easy to get a definitive answer to “how many Boomers are there?” it is not easy to get the same information on Gen-X.

Much like we hear today in regards to Millennials, in the early/mid-90s, associations were freaking out about Gen-X not joining. “It’s the damn Internet! Websites will be the death of us!” Uh, no. Turns out, it was mostly a life stage issue. As in, “I’m 25, and if you’ve seen Slackers, you realize that there’s a good chance that I not only haven’t settled on a career, I’m not even sure if I’m coming back in to THIS job tomorrow.” Sure enough, as Xers started to settle on careers, we also started to join associations.

But – and this but is important – we’re approximately 50% smaller as a generation than the Boomers that preceded us. What that means is that, even if we join and participate at the exact same rate at Boomers, associations are potentially facing a membership and leadership (both paid and volunteer) crisis.

But – and this is also an important but – it’s probably temporary. Coming up behind Gen-X is the even larger than the Boomers (80+ million) Millennial generation. Who are currently in their “I’m 25 and I’m not settled” phase. The good news is, due to various generational characteristics (like their team orientation, interdependence, connectedness, and community-mindedness), the future looks pretty good for civic and professional engagement, volunteering, networking, involvement.

So there’s probably no reason to panic, but associations are still going to need to bridge that gap created by the Gen-X waist of the hourglass. How?

Reach up, and reach down.

Plenty of associations are currently focusing on young professionals, with discounted or even free dues, mentoring programs, outreach, networking opportunities, leadership programs, educational programs, creating set-aside seats in governance for young professionals, reaching out to students in their professions or industries, career services, etc. And all that’s important. This is a generation that is likely to be more loyal and respectful of authority than their cranky Gen-X elders, which means bringing them in and giving them a place early is likely to pay good dividends.

The area that I see associations ignoring, though, is reaching up to retired and retiring members. They are a huge untapped resource for associations. Boomers are, generationally, people who will support things for the common good, at least far more so than cynical Gen-X. They are retiring more gradually and partially than previous generations. They are living longer, healthier post-retirement lives.

In retirement, or at least semi-retirement, they have some tremendous assets that associations can use. They have time, wide networks, and expertise. They also have less money than at the height of their careers, and less need to stay up to date on all the latest in their professions or industries.

How might that play out in keeping them engaged to help associations over the Gen-X dip, until the Millennial cavalry arrives?

Boomers make great mentors. Not so much to Gen-Xers (remember, we’re the “kids these days are no good” generation), but definitely to Millennials, who are just starting out in their careers and who are inclined to like, trust, and want to work with their elders. And they like to share their expertise in new technologies. Is your association running a cross-mentoring program to match experienced Boomers with early career Millennials, who can, in turn, help those Boomers learn tech?

Boomer make great fundraisers. Retaining elements of their youthful idealism, they do believe in causes. And they have the time and networks to do some dialing/visiting for dollars, or even contribute themselves as major donors. What Big Idea projects does your association wish you had the funds to try? Who among your long-term members can help you get there?

Boomers have great experience and institutional knowledge. They can teach courses on key issues in your industry or profession, or even help prepare the coming generations for volunteer leadership roles in the association. Some might provide that expertise for free, and some might appreciate a little extra cash for developing and teaching high-level courses in your field.

What other ways can you think of to engage your “elder statesman” members to benefit your profession, your industry, your association, your membership, and your young professionals?

I think finding good answers to that question will be one of the major keys to association financial health in the coming decade.

Is It Time for a New Model of Membership?

Posted on | by Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE | 5 Comments on Is It Time for a New Model of Membership?

I recently spoke on this topic as part of the April Alexandria Brown Bag focusing on Grassroots Membership Strategies, where I shared the story of my fab client the American Medical Student Association. About a year ago, they switched to a free membership model (disclaimer – I cannot claim any credit for this, as we started working together in the aftermath of the switch). They’ve had some really interesting outcomes, as I’m sure you can imagine.

At the same time, there’s recently been a big discussion about membership models on ASAE’s Collaborate community, which frankly, got a little chippy. I think the reason for it resulted from a fundamental misunderstanding: one, considering new membership models doesn’t automatically mean an organization is going to switch; and two, “new membership model” does not automatically mean “free membership” (despite the fact that it’s been garnering a fair amount of attention recently).

In fact, I’m currently working with another client on looking at their membership model with an eye towards a potential change, and we’re not even considering free membership as a possibility.

If you are considering doing the same, there are a few key things you need to think about:

  1. You need to make an accurate and clear-eyed assessment of your association’s financial picture. No rose colored glasses, no overly optimistic assessments of future increases in revenue or decreases in expenses, review of your investments, review of your reserves and what you are and are not willing to use them for, how big a change in revenue or expense you can absorb and for how long, etc.
  2. You need to know where your revenue comes from and where the potential for growth lies.
  3. You need to have an open and honest conversation with your Board and your senior staff about potential risks, what you will do to ameliorate them, and how you would handle the worst case scenario, should it arrive.
  4. You need to be CRYSTAL clear about your goals and be certain about how you’ll know you did or did not achieve them.
  5. You need to be willing and able to give it time.

 

What Is Cost to Serve?

Posted on | by Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE | 1 Comment on What Is Cost to Serve?

And why does it matter?

Every membership organization faces this sooner or later, and the answer, while simple, is not easy.

At its most basic level:

Revenue per member – Expenses per member = Cost to serve a member

Simple, right?

“If membership is $100 a year, and it costs us $60 a year to mail each member our journal, that’s our cost to serve, and we bring in $40 a year in revenue per member. Go us!”

Not so fast, Sparky.

  • What do you mean by “member”? (Is it just people who pay full fare dues? What about consistent audiences like your corporate supporters?)
  • How much revenue does each member actually contribute to the organization? (Do they ALL pay $100?)
  • What does it cost to recruit and retain each member? (It’s probably not $0.)
  • What’s the FULL list services all members use? (It’s probably more than just your journal.)
  • What services do only some members use?  (Hello, annual meeting.)
  • Which services are used by audiences outside the membership? (Website? Advocacy programs? People LOVE to free ride on that stuff.)
  • What do all services actually cost to provide, in both direct and indirect costs? (Oh noes! Staff costs!)
  • How are the revenues from those services really allocated? (What percentage goes to the board’s current pet project?)

In order to remain financially healthy, membership organizations must know how much additional revenue or expense each member brings to the organization.

Knowing how much revenue each additional member brings helps an organization understand more clearly how much is reasonable to spend on member acquisition.

Knowing how much expense each additional member brings helps an organization understand how to price dues and make decisions about which programs, products, and services should – or should not – be revenue generating and, in the case of programs, products, and services that are consciously chosen to lose money, how those losses can be offset.

So: what DOES it cost to serve your members? The answer may not be what you think it is.

Is It Ever OK to Fire a Member?

Posted on | by Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE

Of course you know I’m going to say “yes,” right?

So the real question is: when? And how do you do it without creating a PR nightmare in a social world?

(Here’s one tip: don’t use a post-it.)

We all have “problem” members. You know – the person who calls or emails constantly to complain. She’s never happy with what the association provides. He doesn’t feel that you respond appropriately to his complaints. Sometimes she’s on the board or in a volunteer leadership position, and the association never does anything right. He not only complains to the staff, he complains to other members (and, in fact, anyone who will listen). God help you when she attends a face to face event – she’ll park herself somewhere and gather a crowd while she moans about everything from the temperature of the rooms to the content of the educational programs to the qualifications of the plenary speakers to the food at lunch.

Of course, it’s always more than one, and you certainly don’t want to throw over anyone who demonstrates the first sign of being unhappy with something. Not only will it kill your reputation, it will kill your retention rate.

So how do you identify when someone has crossed from “problem” to “cancer”?

First, listen openly to her complaints and honestly assess whether they’re valid. No association is perfect, and while sometimes the squeaky wheel is just being a pain in the ass, sometimes she’s the canary in the coal mine.

Second, think about how he expresses his displeasure. Is he respectful? Does he share things with association staff who are in a position to do something about his issues, or does he just yell at the receptionist? Does he offer suggestions to fix the problem? Is he willing to compromise on a solution? In other words, will you EVER be able to make him happy?

Third, measure how much time, energy, effort she’s really consuming. Is this member a regular time suck? For how many staff people? Out of how many total members?

Finally, assess how prominent he is. Yeah, I’m advising that if someone is well-known and well-connected, go more extra miles for him. We all tell ourselves that all our members are equal, but that’s not *really* true. This is one of those cases where who you are matters.

So let’s say that the person’s complaints aren’t valid, she expresses them inappropriately and is never happy, no matter what you try, she’s taking up far more than her share of everyone’s resources, and she’s not the Board chair who is also the CEO of the largest, most respected company in your industry. In other words, you *can* fire her.

So how do you do it?

Aside from “carefully,” it requires an actual conversation with the problem member in which you calmly lay out the facts of his unsatisfactory interactions with the association and explain that you’re terribly sorry that you are unable to meet his expectations. Then you explain that you will be refunding his dues for the most recent dues period and that when his membership term is up, you will not be bothering him with a renewal invoice (so yes, you’re giving him back this year’s dues but not canceling the membership). Then you wish him well, and encourage him to think about checking out the organization again in a few years. Throughout the conversation, you walk the fine line of polite but firm.

Yes I have done this and it did work. Anyone else?

Think I’m crazy? Tell me in the comments.

Membership Marketing on a Shoestring

Posted on | by Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE

I’m presenting on the topic above at the Events By Design Small Staff Association workshop today, and while it’s too late to join us, I thought I could share my best membership marketing tips for small staff associations (aka “the handout”) with everyone.

Barter! 
Find a complimentary organization or two, and swap member lists, swap magazine ads, swap e-newsletter promotions, swap banner ads, swap conference attendance/booths/speaking spots, etc.

Email! 
It takes time, but you can do personalized, segmented HTML emails using some very simple shareware tools, some skill, and a little legwork. It doesn’t require subscription to RealMagnet or Constant Contact, etc. (although that does make things WAY easier).

Word of Mouth! 
Who are your passionate members and volunteers? If you know, ask them to spread the word about the exciting things you’re doing (you are doing exciting things for them, right?). If you don’t know, FIND OUT!

Customer Service! 
Don’t underestimate the value of excellent customer service at every level, from the CEO to the mail clerk. Retention is even more important than recruitment – it’s a much lower cost, higher value transaction. “How can we serve our members better today than we did yesterday?”

Little Things Mean a Lot! 
Get the invoices out on time. Track who’s paid and who hasn’t paid. Proof read all written communications. Test your emails to make sure your links work. Double-check to make sure your return address (snail- or email) is correct in your marketing materials.

It’s Not About the Notices

Posted on | by Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE

Membership retention isn’t about renewal invoices: how many you send, when, in what format.

Or at least, it isn’t ONLY about the invoices.

When someone decides to join your association, she’s responding to a promise made – your brand promise.

Your association has promised her a certain experience with your communications, your staff, and your events. You’ve promised to make her professional life better in tangible ways.  You’ve promised to connect her with other professionals who share her goals and passion, who can help her become a better professional, and who she, in turn, can help in the same endeavor. You promised to make her investment of time and money in your organization worth her while. Are you delivering?

Do you know what your brand promise is? Because it doesn’t matter what you think it is. What matters is what your audiences think it is, and how they translate their experiences with your organization.

Are you living up to it? Because if you’re not, it won’t matter how awesome your renewal pitch is, or when you send it, or how many times, or in what format. People will leave. Sure, not all of them – there are some members who will renew virtually no matter what. But everyone else – and believe me, that’s the majority of your members – is at risk.

Got churn? Declining membership? Before you freak out about “should we send 4 or 5 notices?” or “should we start sending them 3 or 4 months in advance?” ask yourself: “are we keeping our promise to our members?”

Yeah, it’s a bigger question and may be a harder problem to solve, but unlike sending an additional notice, it will actually cure the disease rather than slapping on a band-aid.

The Power of the Beta

Posted on | by Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE | 2 Comments on The Power of the Beta

One of the reasons we in the association world can be afraid to try new things is that we worry that if it’s not perfect, the members will freak out.

And for some of your members, that’s probably true.

But it’s not true for all of them.

Some of them would LOVE to be invited to sneak preview a new program, product, service, offer, etc. and provide their feedback.

So what are you waiting for? Go find them!

And when you do, make sure you have ONE new thing ready for them to try out right away, get their feedback immediately, let them know how you used it, and be sure to credit them with helping you in the development stage when you actually roll it out to your full membership.

Your new offering will be better for it, and that member? She knows you love her now, and that equals loyalty.