Member
Recruitment: Grass Root Volunteers Vs Paid Staff Driven
By Ed Rigsbee, CSP
(1170 words)
It’s an association or society
executives’ perpetual question, “Which group is best suited to lead
the charge in new member recruitment?” What is your answer; the
professionals, the amateurs, or both? Today, this question may be more
crucial then ever before. Let’s
explore what each side brings to the member recruitment, assimilation,
and retention table.
Paid
Staff (Professionals) Driven Benefits:
- Stuff
gets done; since member recruitment can be part of their job
description there is a strong motivation to get the job done. One
will rarely hear the excuse for non-performance; I have been busy
running my own business.
- Consistency;
when member recruitment is one’s job, or part of it, there will
generally be more of a consistent outreach effort and a decreased
likelihood that things will fall through the cracks.
- Dedicated
resources; the professional staff will always have access to all the
latest and greatest brochures and other member recruitment tools
that your organization produces. They will also have a predetermined
amount of time that they will dedicate daily to make recruitment
sales calls.
- Clear
message; the professional staff will regularly communicate a clear,
and hopefully scripted, recruitment benefit message. Making multiple
calls daily will allow the professional to hone their sales message
taking it to the simplest common denominator.
- Knowledge;
generally a staff person, working with member recruitment daily,
will have a greater depth of the organization’s membership
features (even beyond board members) and how the prospective member
can utilize those features to become benefits of membership.
- Outsider
looking in; this offers a different perspective from the functioning
industry member that holds membership in any given association or
society. This different perspective, clear of industry jading and
erroneous perceptions can be of substantial benefit in member
recruitment activities.
Volunteer
Leaders (Amateurs) Driven Benefits:
- More
authentic; because the volunteer member’s recruitment effort will
come primarily from the heart rather than the brain, the emotional
connection to an industry colleague will be dramatically more
powerful than an office staff person with their highly scripted
message that might come off too slick.
- Peer-to-peer
value; members will have better access to colleagues within the
industry and also command a high-level of credibility.
- Word-of-mouth;
members in an industry can create a buzz through their suppliers and
customers. The active functionaries in any industry, geographically
dispersed, interact more frequently and intensively than can a
bureaucrat.
- More
people available; if you look at it from a numbers game perspective,
hundreds of volunteers geographically dispersed and talking to
colleagues will deliver more industry in-person touches than would
be possible of staff.
- Personalized
examples; there is unequaled persuasively power in the personal
success story. Members can explain from doing, rather than
observing, how their trade association or professional society
helped them to solve a problem, access a business opportunity, or
delivered membership features that created high level ROI (return on
investment) to them personally or to their business.
- Industry
jargon; naturally someone that is actively participating in his or
her industry will have a deeper understanding of insider industry
speak. The exception is a long-term association employee. However,
they will generally by that time, be in a top executive position and
most likely not involved in daily member recruitment efforts.
- More
passion; for the member that truly understands and appreciates the
value delivered by his or her association, they will have the
propensity to become a true member recruitment evangelist.
The challenge for many organizations is
that very few paid staffers will ever become member recruitment
evangelists for their employer the way volunteer leaders and members
might.
Member
Retention
You want engaged members rather than
simply numbers. When an organization relies on commissioned staff to
recruit members the motivation is simply getting numbers. What comes
with those numbers is high-quantity drop-off. This is because there has
been a minimal effort to assimilate new members. Conversely, when an
active member recruits a new member, the likelihood of that member
helping the new member to assimilate into the organization is very high.
My personal recommendation is for active members to only recruit one
member a year. It is very manageable and very likely that the member
that did the recruiting will help their new colleague to assimilate into
the organization by inviting them to the coming annual meeting, take
them around, and introduce them to other members.
Membership
Evangelism; What’s It Take?
- When
an individual member understands how a larger membership
organization might serve them better, they become passionate about
spreading the word. They do this for two reasons. First, they want
to share the wealth with all the members in their industry and
second, they desire growth so they might enjoy additional benefits.
- Effective
recruitment tools are an absolute must for members to become
evangelists for their organization. These tools are not used as a
crutch but for credibility builders and roadmaps to tell others
their story.
- Recognition
at any level, and for any task, delivers reinforcement that their
actions and results are appreciated. And for some, recognition is a
bit like a life’s scorecard. It never hurts and always helps; so
why not do it?
- Emotional
ownership in organization is developed through an unwavering belief
that the organization serves their industry, their company, and
themselves in a way that no other could do. When a member believes
in their organization’s delivery of highly valuable member
benefits, the organization effectively “owns them.” The member
can’t wait to shout from the rooftops how their association serves
them. After all, they made the fabulous decision to join, didn’t
they?
- Association
staff and volunteer leaders should pay attention to the members that
are highly-engaged in your organization, even though they may not
select to be part of the leadership. These highly engaged members
should be encouraged, asked about their opinions, and in all manner
appreciated and recognized for their passionate effort to spread the
word about your organization; even if they are contrarians!
- Membership
evangelists, above all else, desire to help others. Get out of their
way—even if they do not follow all of the rules to the level you
desire. You are not looking for well mannered church mice to spread
the word. Rather, you are looking for risk-takers that truly desire
to make a difference, to do your membership recruitment bidding.
My
Preference
If you are truly looking to recruit new
members that will be engaged in your association or society, and if the
choice was mine—I’d have the volunteer leaders in charge of the
member recruitment effort with the support staff highly engaged in the
process. I’d have the volunteers sell the idea of membership to their
colleagues and have the professional staff do the follow up paperwork,
answer additional questions, and collect the dues. I believe this to be
the best utilization of members and staff. However, if you are just
looking for revenue through numbers, go ahead and have the commissioned
office staff lead the effort.
Copyright 2011 Ed Rigsbee
#
# #
As
an internationally recognized speaker on partnering, Ed
Rigsbee is the Chief Member Evangelist at Rigsbee Research Consulting Group and the
Executive Director of the Cigar PEG, Inc., (US Internal Revenue Service
recognized public charity). He has authored three books and over 1,500
articles on business and organizational collaborations. He travels
internationally delivering keynote presentations and multi-day workshops
on collaboration, partnering, and strategic alliances to Corporate and
Association/Society audiences. Rigsbee is frequently engaged by
associations and societies to facilitate various boards of director
meetings and his proprietary, Member
Value ProcessTM.
Ed
has received the coveted Certified
Speaking Professional designation from the National Speakers
Association, one that is enjoyed by only about 10% of the membership in
the International Federation for Professional Speakers. When you need a
keynote speaker, Rigsbee may be
contacted through www.rigsbee.com
or Ed@Rigsbee.com.
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