More engagement equals more renewals, right? Maybe not. It turns out that some members don’t want to become more engaged, but if you understand what those members do want, you can keep them satisfied and renewing year after year. Knowing that engagement leads to retention, we exert a great amount of energy into getting members more engaged so they become more likely to renew. This works to get some members more involved, but others remain frustratingly aloof. Yet, we see some of those members continue to renew anyway, little engaged as they are. (“Mailbox members,” as they’re called.) Why? Well, …
Three Overlooked Tactics for Growing Association Membership
Membership recruitment is a never-ending project. Every year, members leave your association—they retire, change jobs or professions, go out of business, lose their professional development budget, or just vanish for unknown reasons. As members go out the back door, you have to keep new ones coming in the front. What strategies will guide your plan for recruiting these new members? And what tactics will you use to achieve your recruitment goals? The easy way out is recycling membership recruitment tactics of the past. But the most successful associations do it differently. They encourage staff and volunteers to bring their creativity …