Our Membership Manager, Lucy Katan, has blogged about her professional and voluntary roles in growing a membership and included her tips on how to keep your membership base on the up.
I am not sure that many membership managers have that role in mind when discussing career options in their school years. I, like most who end up in this position, have kind of fallen into it and consequently have been trained on the job.
My training has been a bit more unique than some; in 2007 I founded the British Grooms Association (BGA), a membership organisation for the workforce of the equestrian industry. With a background in direct marketing and ten years as an international equestrian groom I was full of ideas for the association – however I had zero knowledge about the running of a membership function.
The BGA is unable to support a salary currently, and so it is a voluntary passion for myself and my team that I run it with. The advantage of this is that I have a full time job elsewhere which gives me the opportunity to learn something new on a daily basis.
In my role as the Membership Manager at the Sport and Recreation Alliance I have already learnt so much about running a membership organisation and have tried out many of the ideas on the BGA. I am pleased to say they are certainly working as we are now on our third consecutive month of increased membership renewals and retention rates.
It is unsurprising that a common theme for any membership organisation is the desire to grow the membership base. The more members you have the more profitable your business will be and hence the more you can do for your membership.
Membership growth doesn’t just happen; it takes planning and implementation of strategic processes to enable your recruitment and retention of members to thrive. So here are some of the useful tips I have learnt recently:
Leaky buckets
To grow the membership numbers of an organisation, it is crucial that you are not losing as many members each month as are joining. If your membership is not growing it is possible that you have holes in your processes which allow your members to easily drop out. Review your processes in detail and decipher why your members leave and “fill the holes in the bucket" to enable your numbers to grow.
Membership retention
Successfully keeping hold of your members doesn’t just begin with the renewal process two weeks prior their expiry date; it begins on the day that they join your association. Strategic engagement with your members will make them feel more valued and that they belong to your organisation. Make sure there is plenty of renewal warnings for your members and a well-structured reminder schedule.
Membership processes
In a changing world the processes that our members join and renew needs to be seamless. Everything else they do online from shopping to social media access is slick, is your website fit for purpose when it comes to recruiting and renewing your membership?
Membership training
I had never attended a membership training course prior to joining the Alliance. I had never heard of Memnet, Sue Froggatt or Memberwise – but what a fantastic resource they have been
and I recommend that all organisations consider joining in.
Listen to your members
How often do you ask your members what they think? Membership surveys are easy to set up and in many cases can be done at no cost. Your membership should be at the heart of everything you do and so it is important to listen to your members to learn if you are getting it right.
There are hidden benefits too if you survey your members; at the BGA we introduced a 6 month Satisfaction Survey, an opportunity to engage with our members half way through the year.
The Sport and Recreation Alliance White Paper will help you to look at what your organisation currently does and seek ways to do it better! Your members are your most valuable asset and the heart of your organisation and I hope that you find the information here helpful in reviewing your own membership offer.
The next membership training course is on the 23rd September 2015 – to apply click here.
