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By Nick Koerbin
I had been coaching an Association Board for months and was recently invited to their Board meeting.
During the meeting, several reports were presented which supported the organisation's overall strategic direction.
The last report was the member manager, who proudly announced that membership had grown by 20% over the last three months. The Board seemed
delighted with the result until one astute Board member asked the question. “ Well, that is a great result, but how many members have
renewed their membership subscription? "We have lost about 18% of those who joined last year" he replied
Service to members is different from service to customers. All reports by member managers on member performance must include two key
performance measures: membership growth and retention.
To achieve the best outcome, the importance of effectively onboarding and offboarding members cannot be overstated. Upon joining your
association, it's paramount to immerse new members in the value you offer swiftly.
Promptly engage them, ensuring they grasp the breadth of benefits available, are encouraged to participate, and understand what their
membership entails.
A comprehensive welcome packet merges essential information with joining instructions, such as navigating your online portal.
Equally crucial is the process of offboarding members. When a member chooses to discontinue their affiliation with your association, it's
imperative not to let them depart unnoticed.
Thoughtful offboarding maintains a positive rapport and opens the door for potential return. Offer a respectful farewell, express gratitude
for their membership and contributions, and extend wishes for their future endeavours.
A renewal invoice is not a request for last year's money. It is a request to pay for next year's benefits. The moment a member — individual or corporate — opens that invoice, they make a decision: renew, or walk.
If your association is thinking about a rebrand because the colours look dated or a Board member doesn't like the typeface, stop. That's not the question worth asking. The real question is harder: does your organisation still represent the sector it claims to lead?
A website project is a governance decision with a technology component, not the other way round. The associations that get it right are the ones that invest in discovery, requirements, and contract scrutiny before a single pixel is designed. The ones that get it wrong skip straight to the demo, fall for the referral, and find out about ownership, integration, and total cost when it is too late to do anything but pay.
How we help membership based, not-for-profit associations now and into the future.
