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Trade Association and Professional Society Growth through Member Recruitment, Engagement and Retention

Today's potential association and society members are asking one simple question, What's in it for me? Trade associations and professional societies are better able to recruit and retain members when the association leadership can explain the true ROI of membership. This is possible through Ed Rigsbee's Member Value Process for determining the yearly sustainable real-dollar value of member. Learn how to tell your prospective members just how much ($$$) they can expect to receive from their financial and time investment.

Surefire Organic Grassroots "member-get-a-member" Campaign for Recruitment, Engagement, & Retention

-More Members in Your Organization Means More Influence in Your State House and in Washington DC

-More Members in Your Organization Means More Business Improvement Programs

-More Members in Your Organization Means More Value for Your Current Members

-More Members in Your Organization Means More Value for All Stakeholders  

Step 1: Ed will conduct his proprietary Member Value Process for determining the yearly sustainable real-dollar value of membership at your next mid-year meeting, chapter meetings, or similar gathering. This will become the cornerstone of the campaign.

Step 2: Ed will help you to develop a new member recruitment tool; your full-color membership recruitment brochure, incorporating results from your Member Value Process findings. The brochure will easily explain why it is a good business decision to belong to your association. This information both helps in member retention and in recruitment.

Step 3: Ed will deliver a keynote presentation, Growing Your Business with Smart Alliances, at your annual meeting. The presentation starts out explaining various collaborations. Then Ed moves into the idea of your association being one of the best collaborations in the industry. He then transitions to sharing the benefits and return on investment (ROI) your members enjoy, enroll your members in seeing the value they already receive and recruit your members to become evangelists for your association. Ed will evoke a commitment from your members to go back to their geographical locations (grass roots) and handout at least 10 brochures each, to colleagues and suppliers. Ed's job it to help you turn your current members into Membership Evangelists for the association. This is just the beginning...

Step 4: Your board of directors will divide up the membership and make member calls after 30 days to inquire on their results. No pressures, just friendly follow up and an offer to refill their brochure supply. Soft follow up throughout the year is quite important.

Step 5: Paid staff and the board of directors will start to work on improving member retention through better member engagement using technology to increase capabilities. Many of these ideas will have come from the Member Value Process session. The board and staff will be charges with finding even more ways to deliver value to the members. At this point having Ed Rigsbee travel to present findings at regional and chapter meetings could prove useful if you have determined a member recruitment target; percentage or actual number.

Step 6: You will need to plan for a larger convention the following year, enjoying the participation of both new and younger members. You will also need to decide how you will use the additional revenue from new members to better serve your industry through education and influencing legislators.

Campaign Deliverables Include:

1. Included is an annual meeting breakout session for the Member Value Process^TM or regional workshops at which to conduct the process. 

2. Change of member mindset from the cost of membership as being an expense, to the cost of membership as an investment in their career and business.

3. Turning rank-and-file members into advocates, or possibly evangelists, for member recruitment.

4. The new member recruitment tool, the tri-fold brochure, will be an effective member recruitment and retention tool for at least five years.

5. The General Session "launch speech" at the annual conference included. This is an additional pocket from which to fund the member recruitment campaign.

6. When the Board of Directors and their assigned committee follows up from the conference launch, generally the organization will enjoy 5% to 10% increase in new members the first year.

7. If the directors repeat yearly, there should be 5% to 10% membership increase yearly without need for hiring consultant back.

8. Increase in annual renewals when recruitment brochure is mailed with member renewal invoices. And, no extra charge for postage. Reminding members each year how much the ROI is on their membership will help them to make the decision to renew. 

9. At the annual convention, prior to launch, Ed Rigsbee will meet with the Board of Directors to examine the organization's services and products that are offered to the members, give ideas to help them be perceived more valuable, and make additional recommendations.

10. Throughout the campaign launch, member recruitment and retention will be top-of-mind for the Association's Board of Directors. This top-of-mind status dramatically increases member value awareness.

"Additionally, your member valuation session created great value for us. We now can better communicate the high-level return on investment our members receive from their membership." 

-John Fullerton, Vice President, National Frame Builders Association

Sign up for Ed Rigsbee's Association Executive eCommunication:

"Attendees rated your sessions good to excellent and the comments included: Nice powerful message with funny & lighthearted style. Good exercise on membership value $. Great ideas!" 

-Jane Svinicki, Executive Vice President, Wisconsin Society of Association Executives