Speaking Engagements

Engaging New Members to Improve Renewals

Most membership organizations will find that the most likely members not to renew are first year members. In fact, it is not unusual for new member renewal rates to be up to 20 percentage points lower than longer term member renewals.

To help increase new member renewal rates, some organizations put “conversion” or “engagement” programs in place. The goal of these programs is to get new members involved and participating in an organization’s events and services.

So it was interesting to note the results of a quick online survey that ASAE did with one of their newsletters. They do not present it as statistically valid due to the limited number of responses, but it is interesting to note that only 26% of associations report running a special new member program for their organization.

ASAE Membership -- Recruitment and Retention


4 comments:

SEO Hampshire said...

Great post!! Thanks for sharing such an wonderful information ...

Conrad said...

What are some of the programs that are working for these organizations?

Tony Rossell said...

Conrad -- The most effective new member engagement programs that I have seen encourage new members to have a second interaction with the association. This can be as simple as getting them to call the "800" number and ask a question, complete a survey, or buy an additional product (like a book).

I did a post on May 17, 2010, titled, "Here’s How to Engage Your Members" that includes some data on the impact of getting this new member interaction.

Also, I will be helping to lead a session at the Alexandria Brown Bag Lunch meeting on Thursday, November 18th on this topic. It is free event. Let me know if you want more information.

Tony

Tony Rossell said...

A new member discount is a great idea to test. The key is getting a member past the first year renewal. Once they have renewed, they are much more likely to stay a member. Tony