As the saying goes, knowledge is power. For any association, it is important to provide  members with opportunities to continuously grow in their professions. To help achieve this, offering continuing education programs can be instrumental in attracting new members who are excited about learning opportunities that further their overall development and also provides opportunities for them to obtain continuing education credits. These programs can be an effective tool to not only keep members engaged, but also stimulate their minds in ways that open their eyes to new ideas and developments in their field. In addition, providing learning opportunities for members can also generate a significant amount of non-dues revenue. Therefore, to ensure success with offering learning programs, here are three keys to offer great programs that offer long term value to your members.

1. Adapt to Changing Times

With the world changing at a rapid pace, it is crucial that continuing education programs remain relevant. People who are seeking to advance their careers want to know the information your association is presenting is fresh and up-to-date. There is a lot of information on the internet that is not always accurate. Hence, this provides an opportunity for your association to provide relevant, factual content for your members to rely on that is backed by proper research. It is also important to keep in tune with any suggestions or requests that members may have about new and relevant topics to cover. Afterall, they are out in the field everyday and can serve as a great resource for providing relevant topics that may be of interest to other members and to the wider profession.

2. Think Carefully About Your  Learning Strategy

Alongside creating relevant learning programs, it is also important to be diligent when strategizing in order to implement the most optimal approach for your members. The programs should avoid filler material that fails to add any substantial value. Rather, the programs should offer an opportunity for skill development, career advancement and for gaining a broader knowledge that can foster both personal and professional growth.

A major factor is to determine the optimal method for developing the program curriculum. One option is to create a more traditional curriculum with fully developed learning paths that will guide members on which courses they should take, along with a defined schedule and deadlines. Another option is to offer a self-service curriculum where the members are empowered to choose their own set of courses according to their interests. To help ensure these programs can provide lifelong learning potential, your association must clearly identify the end result you aim to achieve. This means asking the right questions about your learning objectives. Should you offer programs from a general perspective that provides the same learning opportunities for all members? Or would it be more beneficial to take a specialized approach and offer programs that target specific areas or sectors? It is also worthwhile to consider implementing learning programs that can benefit both the long-term skills and experience of veteran members as well as the younger members.

3. Measure the success of your online programs

Analytics is a key component in assessing how your online learning programs are performing, specifically, the impact they are having on members. For example, your association will know it is on the right track if they frequently monitor how many members are enrolling in online courses. Moreover, the association can also analyze how well the members are performing in each program. Are they completing the courses they have signed up for, are they struggling with the course material, or are they simply disinterested? These measurements will indicate whether the course material or the instructor’s teaching methods require modifications.

Another factor for measuring the success of each program is gaining insights into how members fare once they have completed their respective programs. If they seek to learn more and enroll in additional programs, or if they go on to thrive and achieve a higher level of success in their careers, provides confirmation that the association has taken the right learning approach and is providing the best value for its members.

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Members are the life blood of every association. Therefore, associations make concerted efforts to attract new members. While attracting new members is a critical component of a sustainable association, retaining existing members should not be overlooked. Every year, more associations are shifting their primary focus to member retention. The numbers don’t lie. Acquiring a new member can cost between five and twenty-five times more than retaining an existing member. This disparity becomes even larger when you consider the value a member brings to the association. Retained members spend more money within the association and are often more involved in association events than new members.

While attracting new members will always be incredibly important for associations, many are putting more emphasis on member retention by developing initiatives that foster member loyalty. But, if loyalty drives member retention, then the question becomes: what’s driving member loyalty?

Here are six strategies for creating loyal members.

1. Be An Industry Leader

This goes without saying, but members need to feel that their association is on top of everything industry related. At the very least, members want to feel certain that their association understands their industry better than they do. If the association provides industry news, industry changes and updates, a calendar of industry events or any combination of these things, members find more value and have another reason to connect with their association. This information can be hosted and updated on an “industry-related” webpage, shared through social media or sent out in a scheduled newsletter. What’s important here is that the member has access to a steady stream of industry information. This alone helps position the association as an industry leader in the eyes of its members.

2. Have a Plan

In the digital age, change is a necessity for all industries. Professions and professionals are required to grow and advance or risk being left behind. For a professional, this can be a daunting prospect, but associations can help ease the burden. Members rely on their association to inform them of changes coming to the industry. Associations that have a plan and are in-tune with their industry assure members that they are in reliable hands. Demonstrating a plan can be as simple as maintaining a content calendar, scheduling early membership renewals, informing members of industry events far in advance, adapting to industry changes quickly and allowing members to react to those changes through online learning and certifications. Planning for the future doesn’t have to make for additional work either. Many of these functions can be automated with the technology available to associations.

3. Result-Driven Content

When members are looking to renew their memberships, they weigh the benefits of the membership against the cost of maintaining it. They then compare that to other competitor associations. One effective way to build benefits for members is to create result-driven content. This is content that has measurable wins for members upon completion. That could be a certificate, a course completion diploma, or even a new license. Whatever the benefit is, it is quantifiable for the member.

Measurable and result-driven content is important for member retention because it stands out as a benefit for the member when it’s time for renewing. It provides the member with something to lose as well if they consider not renewing. Of course, result-driven content also acts as an important vehicle for further engagement, encouraging members to participate and connect with the association.

4. Personalized Touch Points

Associations build relationships with members through contact points or touch points. In the digital age, members seek personalization alongside these touch points. It doesn’t matter how large an association is, each member wants to feel that they matter and that they remain an individual. Thankfully, the tools available to associations make creating and sending personalized touch points easier than ever before. Touch points can be any form of contact, whether that be email, a response to a query, an FAQ, social media content, member feedback forms, surveys, etc. Every personalized contact with a member validates the member’s worth and the association’s presence. It also encourages greater participation and engagement from the member.

5. Multi-Tiered Member Engagement

Member engagement is not as simple as mass communication. Not all members are alike and, associations that treat each member the same risk alienating many. By creating subgroups among members, however, associations can save time while still maintaining some personalization in each contact. As members move through their membership and renewal process, they move down an engagement and participation funnel. Members move through this funnel at different speeds.

Similarly, members react differently to touch points. Some may actively reach out to the association. Some might only respond to emails. Some members might never communicate at all after registration. Group the members accordingly and reach out to these groups in ways reflective of their activity. There is no sense in dealing with a member that has already renewed and is readily active the same as those who have never participated. This small step will allow for an engagement process that saves time and money and reaches the right people with the right content.

6. Utilize Social Media

While most associations are using social media already, not all place as much emphasis on it as they should. Social media acts as an open channel of communication for an association. In addition to simply creating an online presence for the association, social media is a great place to run series-based content, post upcoming industry changes and events, address questions and communicate with members. For members, social media is a perfect spot to share success stories, ask questions, and initiate conversations and collaborations with other members. The bottom line is that social media increases member engagement, and better connects members to their industry and to the association.

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Future-proof Your Association

We’ve all heard a variation of that old adage, “nothing is more permanent than change.” Attributed to ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus, it’s the idea that we are in a universal flux, and change is the only constant. As deep and academically distant as it sounds, the notion is very much relevant to our discussion today—associations must embrace change to stay relevant and competitive.

As the thought leadership space is getting more and more crowded, and swarms of previously unknown competitors nibble at the flanks, associations have to innovate, shift, and distinguish the value of their offering. In fact, only 50% of associations surveyed in the Marketing General Inc.’s annual 2018 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report believed they had “a compelling or very compelling value proposition.” However, among the respondents, those with membership renewal rates of 80% or more had done a much better job demonstrating the benefits to their members (54% vs. 39%). Failure to communicate benefits to members has also been echoed as a consistent top communication challenge in Naylor Association Solutions’ 2018 Association Communications Benchmarking Report. Such confluence of data is nothing new or surprising; inability to consistently relay value to members has always plagued associations for various reasons. No matter the reason though, without a solid value proposition and a cohesive message your organization might be “leaking” members.

Plan Your Communication

Speaking of cohesiveness, did you know that there is more than one approach to communicating with members while maintaining the integrity of the message? One size fits all strategy is no longer viable; members, especially the younger Millennials, almost unilaterally expect some level of personalization. You have to literally speak their language or talk the talk. Unfortunately, more than half (58%) of associations do not conduct any sort of segmentation or targeting for their communication whatsoever. Better overall planning and utilization of tactics particular to the platform of communication or even the department within your organization is the way to go.

However, this should not automatically entail considerable effort put into mobile or social media channels, as important as they are these days. In fact, print media is still in the top 10 channels of communication. If done correctly, planning your communication will surely add up to a genuine, consistent and effective participation. Keep in mind, member engagement is not a monolithic effort, but rather an amalgamation of direct and mediated communication methods that change and move with priorities.

Keep Tabs on Members

“What Good Is A Song” is the name of an oldie by Quincy Jones. The premise is that every song should bring some inspiration, value and meaning, otherwise it’s not worthy of listening. The same goes to all the membership involvement initiatives that do not measure anything or create useful data.

Associations usually have plans in place to increase their membership participation, and as a matter of fact, well over half or 62% do. Yet, not all measure it well—and a whopping 30% of them do not even have a procedure in place. It makes sense, since measuring, sorting, and then storing all of that information can be a tedious and even daunting task for those with less resources and technical capabilities. In spite of that, association executives should make an effort to support and encourage staff in collecting and measuring engagement. A well-measured engagement can be used as a solid base for future adjustments or changes to the strategy. One of the most obvious benefits is keeping abreast of members’ preferences and needs, which in turn leads to better services, overall satisfaction, and finally membership renewal.

Renewals are important

Despite being naturally focused on member recruitment as a source of growth, associations must not neglect renewals. It is necessary to employ impactful strategies to tackle membership renewal. Membership renewal is somewhat like wedding vows renewal—it’s more than just a financial commitment, it’s reassurance of trust. Members want to feel appreciated, and a part of a community. Thus, it should not be taken lightly on behalf of associations and members alike. However, sometimes renewals lapse, and it is critical to step back and give members a bit of time in those moments. According to the 2018 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report, associations that have a higher renewal rate (80% or more) have done just that (88% vs. 79%). They are also “significantly more likely to offer a company/institutional/organization membership than those that do not (59% vs. 35%).

The latter is a very important point that goes to the core of this discussion—embracing change is an inherent aspect of staying relevant and competitive. And the trend of transforming the very essence of membership-based organizations, which is membership models, is picking up steam. Repackaging memberships and combining individual and organizational membership by “hybrid” associations, as they’re sometimes called, is becoming more prevalent, argues MGI’s Senior Vice President Tony Rossell. He further adds that those associations that include an institutional membership option on top of the individual see a 5-10 points hike in renewals.

Generations Change, So Should You

By now, we have established that knowing your members, anticipating their needs and proactively engaging with them via all applicable channels should be every membership organization’s objective. But it is also worth considering how social and generational changes outside of your control influence your membership segments.

For instance, Baby Boomers (those born between 1946-1964) still make up the largest chunk of membership with 36%, followed by Generation X (1965 to 1979) at 29%, Millennials (1980 to 1995) with 19%, and finally Generation Z (1996 and after) at 6%. Despite the fact that the ubiquitous Millennials come a distant third, they are the fastest growing group. Soon enough they will naturally catch up and take over the majority. Thus, anticipating and preparing for this shift is something to keep on the agenda. And many associations believe they’re actively communicating with members to better cater to their needs. For example, a solid 84% think they have an up-to-date, relative content. Nevertheless, only 20% or just 1 in 5 are convinced that they have a good idea about their members’, readers’ and even advertisers’ needs. As a result, certain practices with lots of potential get neglected, such as membership customization, which hasn’t changed in the past seven years.

As of 2018, only 18% of associations actually have a separate category for young professionals who are newcomers to the industry, the same percentage of associations as in 2011. New graduates are one of the most important groups for any association. Nearly two-thirds of all association members join within five years of graduation. Successful future-proofing of associations hinges on this member segment. Thus, customizing and tweaking membership benefits to fit new graduates’ preferences is of paramount importance.

Staffing

Finally, we’ve talked a lot about numerous external challenges and ways of dealing with them, but we have yet to mention the internal ones. While taking care of your members’ needs and simultaneously juggling multiple other objectives, it is easy to forget about your own. Respondents in both aforementioned surveys claim being impacted by lack of staff in key positions. In fact, close to half (46%) of associations think they are understaffed, and more than half or 51% of communications teams specifically, feel the same way. Insufficient staff (35%) is also mentioned as a top challenge. And more than half would actually hire more people if they miraculously received a 50% budget increase.

Having enough people, but more importantly in the dedicated positions, is extremely beneficial for efficient and effective communication. For example, staff phone calls still generate 37% of membership renewals, and are frequently used to welcome newcomers. It is also difficult to keep up with the volume and frequency of communication required for an effective engagement strategy without enough people. How will the members learn of the benefits and opportunities if there’s literally no one to tell them that? So, overall taking care of staff and having adequate amount of folks on the job could be the difference between success and failure for associations of any size.

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We sat down with the ODHA executive director Margaret Carter to get her take on the developments taking place in and around membership-based organizations. Margaret, a well-respected and seasoned leader, gave us a bit of an insight into the industry and the trends affecting her work.

Question 1: You’ve been a part of the association world for many years and you’ve seen lots of changes over those years. What changes surprised you the most?

Ten years ago, I did not anticipate that technology would play such a major role in everyday operations. We were early adopters of technology to serve our membership, for example, during the member renewal process. However, I did not anticipate that our membership would adapt so quickly, nor did I anticipate the rapid development and adoption of technology in everyday life.

Technology has really changed how we operate and what we focus on as an association. We have had to significantly invest in technology to keep up with all the changes. And of course, there are many opportunities to utilize technology, but with limited resources, we have to prioritize. This is a constant balancing act.

Question 2: What do you think are some of the biggest challenges facing associations today?

Associations, like many other organizations, are impacted by general economic and political constraints. We are definitely not immune to challenges that arise from uncertainty.

This can lead to a lot of what-ifs and can sometimes cloud the future direction and decision-making.

At the same time, associations must continue to meet membership needs while dealing with these difficult situations.

Question 3: What are you most excited about?

Our members and our future members. For students who are now entering their profession, we want to continue to demonstrate how we can add significant value to their career. Also, technology has provided us with a lot of data to analyze trends—sometimes too much data. We have to figure out new ways to utilize all this data to better serve our members. We are happy that we have this data because just a few years ago valuable data were not available.

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For most associations, innovation is the key to organizational success. In fact, according to the Innovation Benchmarking Research Results, a study conducted by the National Business Aviation Association in 2018, 80% of associations have adopted a “culture of innovation.”

But what exactly is innovation, and how does it benefit associations?

While innovation carries different definitions, in this context, it can be defined as solving member problems through product or benefit creation. Since solving member problems is the main order of business for most associations, the high percentage of innovative associations is not all that enlightening.

This study, however, can teach us about the state of innovation within associations. By observing the study’s trends and changes over the years, we can identify how far innovation has come in a short period of time, where it ranks among associational priorities, and where it’s headed in the future.

1. A Pervasive Ideology – 80% Host a Culture of Innovation

Despite the unchanging percentage of study respondents claiming that “innovation was an association wide practice” between 2016 and 2018, the culture of innovation has increasingly seeped into the associational framework. Over two years, more associations now create formal innovation goals (up 6% to 41%), more associations establish annual innovation goals (up 5% to 61%), and more associations experienced complete employee buy-in (up 6% to 38%).

A ripple effect of this growing ideology can be seen in the hiring trends within associations as well. Since 2016, the belief that “hiring the right employees” will spur on innovation decreased 6% to 52% overall. This appears to be a consequence of the belief that innovation is now an association-wide responsibility and not an individual’s. It could also signify that the innovative individuals are no longer the exception but the expectation.

2. Innovation Isn’t Going Anyway – 61% Setting Annual Innovation Goals

As more associations incorporate innovative technologies into both short- and long-term plans, it’s becoming increasingly clear that innovation is here to stay. Since 2016, associations with a track record of innovation increased 4%, with 31% of study respondents citing a five-year history of innovation in 2018. This history of forward-thinking also led to an increase in respondents rallying behind innovative technology. It seems that proof of concept is the most compelling evidence for those on the fence about technology.

Yet, innovation within associations is no longer just about improving “existing products or processes.” Associations that do not innovate risk being left behind. Between 2016 and 2018, 7% more associations saw innovation as a necessity, as 58% of associations now share that belief. In that same time, associations established more strategic planning and more market research. Meanwhile, more associations also witnessed their competition lead the way in terms of innovation, as 40% of associations stated competitors drove innovation. This would suggest that associations may lead or follow, but most will arrive at innovation either way.

3. Room for Growth – 49% are Developing Innovation

While a quarter of associations already have an innovation process in place, there is still plenty of room for improvement. But it won’t take long for the rest of the associations to catch up. In 2018, 49% of the associations were at least in the process of developing an innovation plan. More associations are now budgeting for technology as well. These associations are seeking new ideas and new technologies to improve their member offerings, and looking inside and outside the organization to find the solutions.

As per the study, more associations are attending conferences and events looking for innovative ideas in 2018 than before, and the number of associations that focus on education programs to stimulate innovation has seen a 5% uptick in the last two years (now 67%). For the technology providers, this is especially promising news. As sources of innovation, technology vendors were utilized by 28% of associations in 2018, an increase of 7% from 2016.

4. It’s a Team Effort – 49% Believe Departmental Cooperation Drives Innovation

As technological innovation is more commonly accepted as the way forward for member solutions, the responsibility is falling less on the shoulders of individuals. In fact, the number of associations setting individual goals is quickly decreasing (down 5% to 31%). Instead, associations look to promote from within ( from 60% to 63%), providing incentives for those current employees who help usher in the new age.

The renewed focus on association-wide solutions has also had an impact on inter-association relations. Not only are more departments working together to find innovative solutions, but technologies that serve multiple functions and departments are those most highly sought after. Across the entire study, cross-departmental cooperation saw one of the most substantial jumps between 2016 and 2018, moving from 40% to 49%.

5. Do More with Less – 21% Fear They Will Move Too Slowly

The vast majority of associations are utilizing advanced technologies and fostering a culture of innovation, and the results are convincing. According to the Benchmarking Research Results, 53% of associations increased memberships over the past five years, 62% have increased revenues, and 47% have increased their staff size. Yet, while the future looks promising, many expect there to be challenges.

Respondents cite a lack of resources and time as the primary challenges to innovation, as well as fighting the status quo, but most see greater concerns on the horizon. Some of the greatest fears for associations is being too slow to innovate (21%) and “maintaining a culture of innovation” (11%). As more associations emphasize the importance of adopting new and advanced member solutions, staying ahead of the curve or at least staying with the pack is as important as ever.

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