Getting Association Members to Stay

membersGetting Association Members to Stay. A lot of factors drive renewals, but what factors determine a decision to resign a membership? It might be perceptions of insufficient value, insufficient connection to business/personal objectives, or possibly an insufficient opportunity to have an impact. In other situations, members may not want bundled packages and they joined for a discount. In a knowledge based environment, Associations are challenged to find innovative approaches for members to contribute, have the ability to experience close peer interactions, and to also feel valued as a contributor.

Why Members Leave

In our survey of Strategic Member Engagement (http://bit.ly/1g8g1J2), we asked executives to rate the frequency at which members leave for 11 potential reasons. Included in the top reasons that members leave are:

  • Insufficient connection to their business/professional objectives
  • Insufficient perceived value (ROI)
  • Joined only for a one-time purchase discount (e.g. meeting registration)

Three Key Building Blocks

Members feel more “connected” to those groups who value their knowledge contributions.  In addition, members especially most value those things in which they participate.

Building Blocks to Accelerate Strategic Member Engagement:

  1. Contribution.  Members see their opportunity to impact something they care about. Associations who provide these opportunities can move behaviors from being a “Recipient” of information to a “Knowledge Contributor.”
  2. Collaboration. Through ongoing community reinforcement, members experience increased value in what they perceive a “highly engaged solutions community.”
  3. Connectedness. As more contribution and collaboration “connectedness” to the association occurs, the Association moves from “casual priority” to “personal priority.”

Each building block helps reinforce why an executive should maintain their Association membership.

Getting Association Members to Stay

Accelerating strategic member engagement is really about creating opportunities and “experiences” to both contribute knowledge and feel valued; something that members don’t always find elsewhere.

Complete survey results and more information on Strategic Member Engagement is available at at www.potomaccore.com.

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By Dan Varroney

3 decades of experience working with multiple Industries and understanding different Association challenges by helping build strategies that add long term value. Comprehensive understanding of Associations, as Senior Vice President for the National Association of Manufacturers’ National Membership & Grass Roots operation, as President of the American Solutions Advocacy organization, & as President and CEO of the Association for Corporate Growth. Considerable background on impact of legislative and regulatory policy on Industries, has provided analysis on economic performance and M&A trends in outlets that include CNBC, CNBC Europe, Fox News, Fox Business, Dow Jones Marketwatch, Bloomberg, and the BBC. Strategic perspectives are frequently sought out by CEO Update, a leading source for Association news and information. Authored over 145 blog articles on Strategic Planning & Member Engagement. Facilitates knowledge sharing among forty -five Association CEO’s at the Growth Strategies & Member Engagement Forum.  Served as a member of the Prince William County, Virginia Strategic Business Planning Team. District Three Councilman in the Village of Palatine, Cook County, Illinois, twenty one years. B.A. in American History from the Catholic University of America, Washington D.C. and earned a Certificate from the Yale School of Management, New Haven, Connecticut in Leadership and Team Effectiveness. Member of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE).