As businesses switch their focus from ownership to access, one-time to recurring payments, transactions to relationships and one-way communication to ongoing feedback, these four key trends should inform any effective membership strategy.
Though the membership economy contains many nuances and complexities, all membership organizations share several core qualities — a seven-step framework of standards.
Engaging non-members is something associations could benefit from. Though they’ve traditionally focused on attracting and retaining members, associations that ignore non-members risk falling behind.
From time to time, it’s important to step back and ask basic questions about what value your membership actually delivers. If you’re struggling to attract new members — especially younger ones— it might be because your offerings are available elsewhere, or even lacking.
The opportunities to create value through digital technologies and advance member benefits is still huge for associations. It’s time to seriously consider your digital strategies and options.
Keeping in mind the need for personal responsibilities when it comes to local guidelines about social distancing and mask wearing, using the foundations of a pandemic pod for your own company meetings provides an opportunity to bridge the gap between fully remote offices and returning to a semblance of normalcy.
The Open Garden model proposes a shift away from focusing exclusively on attracting and retaining members. Instead, associations should focus on engagement as their North Star.
Because many associations were already using online platforms or were beginning to implement virtual resources since the COVID-19 pandemic, engagement in these products has held steady and met - if not exceeded - many association professionals’ expectations.
Engagement is what brings someone from an interested spectator to a dedicated advocate. So, what are some of the ways we can improve our virtual experiences and get people more involved with our organizations?
No longer is someone just a member or a non-member; our organizations should instead be thinking of the fuzzier lines between our groups of stakeholders and how, in this new future, we can provide value to all of them.
