Whether you’re running a non-profit organization or a limited donation drive, you need to keep your new and current members engaged. To do this, you need to understand that each person has a different intent in joining your organization. They have a variety of reasons for ending their membership, too.
According to a recent study by Edge Research, over 32% of members leave because the fees are too costly. About 19% of them also see little value in staying in their organization. You need to employ diverse strategies to retain loyal members and attract new ones.
Offer More of What They Joined For
The Edge Research report surveyed over 1,030 members and found that what keeps them engaged depends on their age range. Millennials often join and stay in an association for the job and networking opportunities it opens up. Gen X-ers, on the other hand, stay for industry information. More mature members stay because they agree with the organization’s code of ethics.
Overall, people stay because of professional development, information, and networking. Focus your programs on these three factors. Run a job drive for your younger members to help with their career progression. Make meetings and conferences with industry experts more frequent to keep everyone updated with the latest and best practices. If these suggestions aren’t doing the trick, survey your members about the events they want to experience and run the most common ones.
Win Back Inactive Members
You may have experienced having members who haven’t been to your events in months or even those who don’t even respond to your invites. More often than not, these people will end up leaving your organization completely. Renew their interest in your association by sending a win-back message. This can come in the form of a text message or email.
Entice them with a free or discounted membership for a limited time. Scan through the events they have gone to. If you have a part two of those events, let them know about it. They definitely don’t want to miss out on it. As for the format of your email, a good subject line would be emotionally charged ones such as “Come back!” and “We miss you,” according to a recent study by Marketing Land. The body should be a short summary of your offer, followed by a call-to-action to your website or contact details. This can take up a lot of your time. If you want to prioritize your core operations, a membership management service provider can do a great job for a fee.
Boost Your Onboarding Efforts
There’s nothing more frustrating than attracting new prospects only to never hear from them again. This may be the result of an ineffective onboarding process. Your members may not know the full benefits of joining your organization. Summarize these advantages through onboarding emails. You can also survey your new members about their expectations in joining your organization or events they’d like to see you host.
If email isn’t your style, run a general assembly either personally or through videoconferencing applications. This way, a sense of community gets established as you see and interact with each other face to face.
Running an organization is no easy task. One of its biggest challenges is retaining loyalty among members. These suggestions provide ways to keep your people engaged and active in your organization. You may have to make major changes to your operations, but it’s worth the effort once you see your attrition rates go down.