What is a Member Satisfaction Score?

In its simplest form, a member satisfaction score is a measurement of the satisfaction level of your members. This score can be adapted through similar principles used as part of obtaining and quantifying CSAT metrics. In other words, ideally, you can use CSAT standards and measuring options as your overall framework, but not the core focus on your studies. Customer satisfaction score considers the contentment a buyer has with a business’s services or products.

This is similar to member satisfaction, but not exactly the same measurement as member satisfaction. This more specific measurement considers factors that impact members of member-based organizations instead of the opinion on a product or service from a traditional business. Keep in mind, just as wanting a high CSAT score should be a goal of any customer-focused business, having a good member satisfaction score should be your goal as a member-based organization, as this means your members are better engaged, more likely to renew and your organization will tend to enjoy more long-term growth.

Why Member Satisfaction Scores Matter

Member satisfaction scores positively enhance the following elements that are key towards maintaining success as a member-based organization:

• Member renewals and retention rates.
• Member engagement and participation.
• Event attendance.
• Volunteer involvement.
• Non-dues revenue opportunities.

Since member satisfaction scores are immensely important and directly correlate with your success as a member-based organization, it’s vital to track this metric consistently and accurately. This is key information, giving you valuable guidance that will allow you to make needed changes or continue to invest in successful strategies. It helps guide your organization towards success and continued membership growth.

How to Measure Member Satisfaction

Now that we have considered the importance of a good member satisfaction score, it’s helpful to consider how to measure this metric in the first place. Again, as mentioned above, you can alter standard CSAT stats or metrics. However, having an accurate member satisfaction score can be successfully obtained by the following:

Post-Event Surveys

After events, like training, webinars and conferences that are attended by members, offer a post-event survey. Ask key questions about the experience of members throughout these events.

Membership Renewal Surveys

Another great way to measure member satisfaction is during the membership renewal process. Make an effort during this time to get feedback as part of the renewal procedure. This marks a clear time to gain feedback and many members are more than willing to offer their opinions or offer suggestions at this time.

NPS Adaptations Net Promoter Score

Adapt Net Promoter Score (NPS) style questions to your member-based organization. Generally, NPS questions are single questions that measure the loyalty and willingness of customers to recommend a service or product to others on a scale. In terms of member-based satisfaction questions, they can be adapted to properly reflect how likely a member is to recommend the organization or membership service provided to others. An example of this type of question could include:

How likely are you to recommend membership in our organization to others?

This would then be answered by members responding on a scale from 0 to 10, or 0 to 5, with 0 very unlikely and the highest numbers being more likely to occur. Obviously, the higher scores you get here, the more loyal this indicates your members are to your organization.

Regular Poll Surveys

While having surveys or polls at specific times, like yearly or bi-yearly renewal is wise, you can also poll your members at various points throughout the year. Just keep the surveys short and sweet and consider offering benefits for feedback. This can give you a better idea of how your members are feeling throughout their entire membership, not just at specific times in the calendar year, like renewal times.

Direct Feedback Channels

In order to make it as easy as possible for your members to give feedback, opt for direct feedback channels. For example, you can have surveys posted on member portals, or on community platforms. You can also have it be part of your customer service interactions when members call in with concerns or questions.

When Should You Measure Member Satisfaction?

As outlined above, there are various points in time applicable to measuring member satisfaction. To get the most return on that information, though, aim for these key times to measure feedback and overall member satisfaction:

• During renewal cycles: This is prime time to get feedback, especially if members don’t want to renew their membership. You need to know why, so you can address their concerns and make the membership more valuable to them.

• After major events: If your organization hosts a major event, such as a conference, this is another key point in time to gauge member satisfaction. For many members, these events can be the pay-off of having their membership in the first place. Now is the time to find out if the payoff is considered worthwhile.

• Post-program or service delivery: Another important time to measure member satisfaction is after a service or program delivery. You want to know if your members feel what they got in return was valuable enough to merit ongoing membership.

• Quarterly or bi-annually for ongoing feedback: If you want general feedback and not the type necessarily tied to just one specific program, service or an event, then having regular quarterly or bi-annual member surveys can be a good idea. This gives you general and ongoing feedback that can be immensely valuable to your group.

• After key support or onboarding interactions: Last but certainly not least, another vital time to check member feedback is immediately after a member has been given support, went through an onboarding or had another type of interaction with your organization. This will highlight areas you might need to address to make these processes better or showcase what you are doing right.

How to Improve Member Satisfaction

Now that we have considered what a member satisfaction score is and looked at when it’s best to measure it, it’s helpful to consider some actionable ways your member-based organization can improve this all-important member satisfaction score. The following are some key ways to improve your overall member satisfaction:

Strengthen Your Onboarding Process

To ensure that members feel valued from their very earliest interaction with your organization, pay special attention to your onboarding process. Make sure your new members feel welcome and understand how to access and utilize all available resources. While simply giving them information is part of it, proper onboarding involves more than information overload. It is a step-by-step, intuitive process that helps your members instantly become experts about your organization.

Personalize Member Experiences

We all want to feel unique and special. This is no less true for the valued members of your group. Therefore, it’s important to pay attention to personalization. This means segmenting content to appeal to specific members based on their engagement history, proven interests and type of membership.

Increase Member Engagement Opportunities

Provide ways for members to engage as much as possible. This includes peer networking, volunteer roles and committees. Open these up for members to enjoy and participate in for them to offer not only their opinions but actual solutions to issues they might have noticed.

Close the Feedback Loop

Feedback is important, but getting feedback merely for the sake of feedback alone doesn’t do anything. Therefore, it’s helpful to show members how their feedback has led to improvement. Communicate with your members when you have made changes based primarily on their survey answers or other poll results. This will show members that the surveys you send out aren’t just busy work. They really do matter. This knowledge will increase the chance they will make surveys a priority going forward.

Simplify Member Support

When members need help, answers to questions or require assistance, make sure this process is as simple as possible. The process of getting help or guidance should not require an advanced degree or deep understanding of how your organization works from the inside out. Make all member support easy-to-access and user-friendly.

Why You Need to Measure Member Satisfaction Scores

Measuring member satisfaction is a key component of continued success as a member-based organization or association. You simply cannot enjoy continued success without a focus on this metric and an understanding of why it matters. Keep in mind that continuous measurement plus consequential action will equal stronger member loyalty and greater membership retention overall.

Member Satisfaction FAQ

What is a good member satisfaction score? Generally, you will want to receive more positive feedback or survey results. This means that the bulk of member answers will sway towards being either satisfied or very satisfied. If you notice many responses that aren’t positive, this is an indicator that you might need to work on some key areas of your membership service.

How do you calculate member satisfaction? You will average the member satisfaction results to get an overall view of how pleased your members are with your membership-based organization or service. Generally, these are tabulated on a percentage scale, taking into account a broader look at your membership instead of considering each one as an individual.

How often should you measure member satisfaction? This depends on your own membership-based organization. Times of membership renewal are great natural opportunities to prompt members for feedback. However, this is far from the only time you can seek feedback from members. Just don’t overwhelm members by asking for feedback constantly as this can cause them to ignore such requests.

Start Listening to Your Members

Want to know about the best way to improve member satisfaction? Start by asking your members what matters most to them. It seems simple enough, and thankfully, with MemberClicks your organization can effortlessly gather feedback, track satisfaction, and keep your members engaged. See how our AMS can help and book a demo to learn more!

The post Member Satisfaction Score: What It Is, How to Measure It and Improve Results appeared first on MemberClicks.

In this article, we’ll walk through what trial memberships are, the benefits and drawbacks, how to structure them and whether they’re the right move for your association. You’ll also get practical tips for making them work, and a few alternatives if you’re on the fence.

What Are Trial Memberships?

Trial memberships can look different depending on how your association operates. Before weighing the pros and cons, it helps to understand what they are, how they typically work and the main types you’ll see in the membership world.

Definition and How They Work in Associations

A trial membership is a limited-time offer that gives prospective members access to some or all of an association’s benefits without the full cost or commitment. It’s meant to give people a taste of what membership includes, whether that’s exclusive content, community access, events or services.

In trade and professional associations, trial memberships often serve as a recruitment tool. They can be part of a campaign to convert leads, warm up cold contacts or reactivate lapsed members. Some trials are fully open, while others are invite-only. Either way, the goal is the same: show value early and convert users into full, paying members.

Associations handle trial access in different ways. Some require users to sign up through a form. Others use email invites, codes, or CRM-triggered workflows. The structure depends on the tech you use and how tightly you want to control access.

Common Trial Types: Free, Paid, Limited Access

Not all trial memberships are created equal. The most common types include:

• Free trials: These offer either full or partial access at no cost for a short period, usually between 7 and 30 days. They’re low friction but can, unfortunately, attract non-serious users.
• Paid trials: These charge a small fee (usually something like $1 or $5) to weed out unqualified leads. They often result in higher conversion rates.
• Limited-access trials: These give access to only certain content or features, like a sample webinar or resource library, rather than the full experience.

Choosing the right format depends on your audience, your goals and how much you’re willing to give away during the trial period.

The Pros of Trial Memberships

Trial memberships can be a powerful recruitment tool when done right. They lower barriers, show off your value and help you learn what moves people to join. Here’s a closer look at the benefits.

Low-Commitment Entry Point for New Members

One of the biggest benefits of a trial membership is that it reduces friction. People may be curious about your association, but they are hesitant to pay upfront. A trial gives them a way in. No big decision, no pressure. It’s especially useful for early-career professionals or those comparing multiple associations.

A Chance to Show Real Value

It’s one thing to explain what your association offers. It’s another to let people experience it. Trials give prospects direct access to your content, community and support. This lets your value speak for itself. If your programming and benefits are strong, that exposure can do more than any sales pitch could.

Higher Engagement Early On

Trial members are usually more active during the trial period. They’re exploring what you offer and deciding whether or not it’s worth paying for. That window, often just a few weeks, is your best shot to show relevance. If you have strong onboarding and touchpoints in place, you can turn that short-term interest into long-term loyalty.

Better Conversion Insights and Feedback

With the right tracking in place, you can learn a lot from trial behavior. What do people engage with? What’s ignored? Where do they drop off? This kind of feedback helps you refine your membership offer. It also gives you better data on which leads are warm and worth following up with.

Growth Opportunity With Smart Follow-Up

A trial membership eventually ends, but it should lead somewhere. If you build a smart follow-up sequence, you can move many trial users into full membership. That might mean a limited-time discount, a personal email or a nudge with testimonials from current members. If done well, this kind of transition turns curiosity into commitment.

The Cons of Trial Memberships

Trial memberships aren’t a magic fix. Without a clear plan, they can add work, expose your content to misuse, or disappoint both prospects and existing members. Here’s where things can go wrong.

Increased Admin and Resource Load

Even short trials take time to set up and manage. You’ll need a way to register users, grant access, monitor activity and follow up. If your systems aren’t automated, this can quickly become a drain on your team. And if you’re running multiple campaigns, things can get messy without clear workflows.

Risk of Content Misuse or Repeat Signups

Some users may join only to download resources, attend an event, or collect email contacts and then disappear. Or worse, they might try signing up again with a different email. Without the right controls, you risk giving away too much to people who never intended to become members.

Lower Conversions Without a Strategy

A trial membership by itself doesn’t guarantee growth. If you’re not showing the right value at the right time—or if your follow-up is weak—most users will leave when the trial ends. That means time and resources spent with no return. You need a clear strategy for moving people from trial to full member.

Potential Pushback from Current Members

If trial users get access to content or perks that paying members see as exclusive, it can cause friction. Long-time members might feel the value of their dues is being undercut. To avoid that, be clear about what trial members can access and why the full membership still matters.

Are Trial Memberships Right for Your Association?

Trial memberships aren’t one-size-fits-all. They can work well for some associations and fall flat for others. Before launching one, take a step back and look at your goals, resources and audience.

Evaluate Your Goals, Resources and Capacity

Start with what you’re trying to accomplish. Do you want to grow overall membership? Increase awareness in a specific segment? Re-engage lapsed members? A trial can help with all of those, but only if you have the staff, tools, and time to run it well. If your team is already stretched thin, it might create more problems than it solves.

Consider Your Audience and Offer Type

Think about who you’re trying to reach. A trial membership may appeal to younger professionals, freelancers or those exploring a new industry. But it might not work for senior-level execs or long-time members of another association. Also consider whether a free, paid or limited-access trial fits best with their expectations and your capacity.

Know What You’ll Include—and What You’ll Hold Back

You don’t have to give away everything. In fact, holding back some member-only perks can help reinforce the value of upgrading. Maybe trial users can view webinars but not download slides. Or they can access community forums but not vote in board elections. Decide in advance what’s fair and what’s off-limits.

How To Structure a Trial Membership Program

Once you’ve decided to offer a trial membership, the next step is figuring out how to set it up. The details, like how long it lasts, what it includes, and how people move from trial to paid, can make or break its success.

Choose the Right Duration

Short trials (3-7 days) create urgency but may not give enough time to explore your offerings. Longer trials (30 days or more) offer a better experience but risk losing momentum. Somewhere in the 7-14 day range often works best for associations, as it gives trial users time to engage without dragging things out.

Free vs. Paid Trials: What’s the Difference?

Free trials are easier to promote and remove friction completely, but they also attract more casual users. Paid trials, usually at a small fee, can help qualify leads. People who are willing to pay even a little are more likely to convert. Some associations test both to see which brings in more committed members.

Set Expectations Up Front

Make it clear what users get during the trial. Be transparent about how long it lasts, what content or features they can access and what happens when it ends. If people feel misled or confused, it damages trust, which in turn hurts conversions.

Build a Clear Path from Trial to Full Member

Don’t leave trial users hanging. Plan your follow-up while the trial is still active. Send reminders as the end date approaches, highlight benefits they haven’t tried yet and explain what’s waiting for them as full members. Make upgrading easy, with a clear call to action and a simple payment process.

Alternatives to Trial Memberships

Trial memberships aren’t the only way to give potential members a preview of what you offer. If you’re not ready to commit to a full trial program or want other ways to test interest, these options can help.

“Behind-the-Scenes” Preview Videos

Show what membership looks like without giving access. Record short videos of your member portal, an event in action or interviews with active members. This gives prospects a feel for your community and content without opening the doors.

Limited-Time Guest Passes

Instead of offering full trials, you could try guest passes to specific events or webinars. This approach keeps your broader benefits exclusive but still offers a taste. It’s especially useful for conferences, networking events or online meetups.

Free Content or Intro-Level Access

Offer a curated selection of resources, like one downloadable guide, an article series or a short course. Make it useful enough to show value, but limited enough to leave them wanting more. This works well as a lead magnet tied to a broader marketing funnel.

Consultation or Discovery Calls

For smaller, more targeted groups, a short call can be more effective than a generic trial. It’s personal, lets you tailor your pitch, and helps build a real connection. This works best for associations with high-ticket memberships or more specialized audiences.

Is a Trial Membership the Right Move?

Trial memberships can be a great way to attract new members, but only if they’re done with a clear goal and strategy. They lower the entry barrier, give people a real taste of what you offer and help you learn what drives conversions. But they also come with trade-offs: more admin work, potential misuse and the risk of low return without a plan.

If your association has the resources to run a structured trial—with onboarding, clear boundaries and smart follow-up—it can pay off. If not, you might want to start with one of the alternatives and test interest that way.

Thinking about launching a trial membership or wondering if it’s the right strategy for your association? MemberClicks helps associations like yours onboard new members, track engagement and turn interest into long-term retention. Let’s talk about how we can support your growth!

The post Trial Memberships: Pros and Cons for Associations   appeared first on MemberClicks.

The good news is, hosting a successful job fair that turns heads, drives dues, and earns you community standing is easier than you might think. Let’s take a look at the 10 main steps to get there.

What is a job fair and what are its benefits?

First and foremost, what is a job fair?

In a nutshell, job fairs or hiring events are gatherings of employers and prospective employees. The former are looking for great candidates, while the latter are looking for anything from their first job to a major career change.

Job fairs are a great way to sell memberships, because you can give discounts or free tickets to high-level hiring events where members can meet important employers and hiring managers they wouldn’t get facetime with elsewhere.

Job fairs are only one of many ways to offer professional perks to your members (others include job boards or speaker events, for instance). They also only happen once a year. It may be surprising, therefore, to learn that when you figure out how to host a job fair, you’ll see massive benefits all year long.

Benefits for attendees

It’s pretty obvious what attendees get out of job fairs: access to employers, networking potential, interviews, feedback, and more.

The real question is, what do you get out of it?

Benefits for nonprofit organizations and employers

As a professional organization, you don’t have very high stakes in whether a specific person gets a specific job. What you do care about is how your job fair makes you look to the community as a whole, and in that sense, it has major brand potential. Benefits include:

• Building brand recognition in your community
• Raising money through booth fees and sponsorship
• Creating awareness of your mission and organization
• Recruiting sponsors for events or programs
• Cultivating donors among the attending employers
• Acquiring new donors or members among attending employees

What nonprofit organization doesn’t want to enjoy such benefits? Now the question becomes, how can you get them for yourself? That’s where the following practical steps come in.

10 practical steps

The best way to approach the question of how to host a job fair is to break it down into smaller, more manageable chunks. Otherwise you risk analysis paralysis as you try to figure out how to approach a massive event.

Instead of losing sleep, take the following 10-step approach.

1. Identify what type of job fair you would like to do

While “job fair” seems like an all-encompassing term, there are actually several types of job fairs:

• Specific employer fairs: Some job fairs are hosted by a single employer. While this is a great approach if your organization or a partner company has a lot of roles to fill, you should only jump on board if there are plenty of openings to draw a crowd.
• College career fairs: Graduating students are among the biggest sectors of employment-hungry individuals in America and around the world. Hosting fairs geared toward students or graduating students is a great way to bring in professional memberships, because by that time the attendees mostly know what they want to do. For the nonprofit, this is great. For the students, it may not always be as beneficial, because a lot of the employers are there to scope the new crop rather than actively hire.
• Public job fairs: The most common type of job fair is available to the public in general. Employers may represent a single industry, a niche profession, or your nonprofit’s mission.

2. Determine the goals of the event and what you would like to accomplish

When learning how to host a job fair, it might seem intuitive to throw together a venue and some canapés and go for it. However, remember your goals.

The main goal in choosing your job fair type is to determine how exactly the fair can help your nonprofit. While partnering with companies is great, if you can’t bring in memberships or donors, it’s a waste of your resources. Therefore, before you talk to sponsors, employers, or caterers, ask yourself questions such as:

• How will this fair engage members?
• What exact numbers are you trying to hit, in terms of income, signups, and donations?
• How many sponsors do you need?
• How many employers?
• How many attendees are you hoping to get?
• What is your event communication plan, and how will it add to your goals?

Answering these questions will help you take the next eight steps.

3. Decide on a date and time for the event or activity

It might seem intuitive to ask your employers and sponsors about their preferred date and time, but too many cooks in the kitchen just cause problems. Instead, consider the most appropriate date and time for your attendees. When will they be available? When will they want to come? How long will your event be, and how does that impact when it should happen?

4. Consider locations and types of facilities to host your event

Next up in learning how to host a job fair: locations and facilities. This is highly dependent on your predicted audience, so it can be helpful to conduct surveys about who might attend your event. You can do this through email or your website.

A good way to save money is to choose facilities that have as many of the amenities you need already on site. For instance, if you are hosting a culinary job fair, then kitchens are a must. On the other hand, if your industry is geared toward housing or manufacturing, this isn’t necessary.

Also consider amenities such as:

• Microphones and speakers
• Conference rooms
• Classrooms
• Loading docks
• Open floor space

5. Consider people to assist with the execution of the event

There are several groups of people to consider for assisting with your event. These include your staff, your volunteers, corporate partners, in-kind donors, and event experts.

6. Determine expenses and responsibilities

How well your event comes off depends on how well you marshal your resources. Once you decide what form your event will take, refine your initial budget – which will have informed your choice of venue, etc. – to include every line-item expense. This should be very granular, including everything from flowers to event description copywriting to your communication plan and beyond.

7. Create an event timeline

Job fairs are rather free-for-all in their timelines, because the main goal is to give employers are potential employees lots of time to mingle and exchange information. However, you will need to choose some hard-and-fast times, including:

• The start and end times
• Important speakers
• Morning and lunch breaks
• Dinners and galas

Don’t forget to make this very clear on your website, as well as registration deadlines. Using an event registration app will help with this.

8. Determine key decisions

One mistake many make when learning how to host a job fair is failing to delegate. Make sure that in addition to conscripting folks to help (as in Step 5), you also decide on the key decision-makers and what spheres they will control.

In larger organizations, this may naturally break along department lines. In smaller organizations, where people wear many hats, you will have to pinpoint who does what ahead of time.

9. Take into consideration special additions/items if needed

Your event may require special considerations, depending on your audience. If your job fair is geared toward a specific industry or mission, for example, then you may need experts in that field to help draw people in. Dietary restrictions may apply to a culinary fair, while enclosures may be necessary for animal-oriented organizations.

10. Follow up

It’s not enough simply to market your job fair and hope for the best. If you get positive responses from people, make sure to follow up and get them to buy tickets. Those who do buy should receive detailed post-registration emails.

For those who give you no response, feel free to send another email or two letting them know about your fair. It’s possible they just didn’t catch the email at that time but are interested.

How to host a job fair with MemberClicks

Whatever else you do, make sure to designate a central online hub where people can find information, sign up for your fair, and build community both before and after the event. MemberClicks can help you do just that, so get in touch to learn more today.

The post How to Host a Successful Job Fair in 10 Practical Steps appeared first on MemberClicks.

By asking the right questions, you can uncover key motivators, discover areas for improvement, and even anticipate future needs, helping you tailor your offerings to better serve your members.

To help you get started, we’ve compiled a list of essential survey questions that cover everything from member demographics to engagement preferences. In this blog, we’ll cover the questions you should include in your next member needs assessment, based on eight different categories:

1. Occupational
2. Benefit Offerings
3. Education and Training Interest
4. Committee and Volunteer Interest
5. Communication Preferences
6. Availability
7. Satisfaction
8. Advocacy

Category by category, you’ll learn why each of these sections are crucial to your membership survey and how the information you glean from them can improve your members’ experiences. 

Occupational Survey Questions

Occupational questions often include typical survey questions about demographics, like age, race, gender, region, and education level. These data points can help you evaluate how you’re meeting the needs of your members across many identities and lived experiences.

In what industry do you work?

This question is valuable because it helps your association understand the diverse professional backgrounds of its members. By identifying the industries members are involved in, your association can tailor its programs, resources, and networking opportunities to better align with the specific needs and challenges of different sectors.

What is your role in your organization?

This question is valuable because it helps your association understand the range of job functions and responsibilities among your members. By knowing their roles, you can create more relevant content, professional development opportunities, and resources that cater to their specific job needs and career aspirations.

What are your professional goals?

Understanding your members’ professional goals allows your association to align its offerings, such as training, resources, and networking opportunities, with what members need to advance in their careers.

What are the goals of your company?

Knowing the goals of members’ companies helps your association provide services and content that not only support individual members but also resonate with the broader business objectives of their organizations, increasing the value of membership.

What do you need to grow professionally and make an impact?

This question helps your association identify specific resources, tools, or support that members need to achieve personal growth and effectiveness in their roles, allowing you to directly address and fill these gaps.

Survey Questions about Member Benefit Offerings

Questions about the benefits you currently offer, and those your members would like to see you offer are critical for your member needs assessment. 

Which benefits are the most useful to your members? Which ones drew them to your organization? Knowing the answers to these questions can help you determine which benefits to continue offering and learn which aren’t as useful to your audience. This is an opportunity to dig deep on which benefits are the most likely to prompt membership renewals.

What benefits are you using the most? Why?

This question helps your association identify which benefits are most valuable and why they resonate with your members, allowing you to prioritize and enhance the offerings that are truly making an impact.

How often do you use X? (with X being a specific benefit, you want to learn more about)

By asking this, you can gauge the frequency of usage for specific benefits, which helps in understanding member engagement and the relevance of those benefits in their daily or professional lives.

What would motivate you to use X more?

This question provides insights into potential barriers or improvements needed for specific benefits, helping your association make adjustments that increase member engagement and satisfaction with the offerings.

What benefits should we add?

Asking this allows your association to uncover unmet needs or emerging trends among your members, helping you stay relevant and continuously improve the value you provide by introducing new, desired benefits.

What benefits do you not find valuable and why?

This question helps your association identify benefits that are underutilized or no longer relevant, allowing you to streamline offerings and reallocate resources to benefits that provide more value to your members.

Education and Training Interest Survey Questions

Your members likely connected with your organization so they could network with and learn from other professionals within their field. By offering both formally organized and organic peer-to-peer learning, you can help your members stay current on new developments within their industry and maintain a competitive edge.

This section of your survey can be used to gauge interest in online learning opportunities as well as any in-person seminars or classes you may already offer. Online and on demand programs make it easier for your busy members to fit learning into their schedule—that means they’re more likely to engage and find value in your programs.

On a scale of 1-10, how interested are you in our current education offerings?

This question helps your association measure the overall interest level in your current education programs, providing a quick gauge of their appeal and potential areas for improvement.

What topics do you want to see covered?

Asking this helps your association identify gaps in your current educational content and tailor future programs to better meet the specific interests and needs of your members.

How can we help you be better at your job?

This question uncovers practical needs and challenges your members face in their roles, allowing your association to develop targeted training and resources that directly enhance their job performance.

What will help you the most in your overall career?

This question provides insights into the broader career aspirations of your members, helping your association offer education and support that aligns with long-term professional development goals.

What modalities do you prefer for education and training (e.g., in-person, virtual, hybrid)?

Understanding preferred learning modalities helps your association deliver education and training in formats that are most accessible and engaging for your members, increasing participation and satisfaction.

Committee and Volunteer Interest Survey Questions

When members take on leadership positions, it demonstrates increased engagement among your members and an opportunity for peer-to-peer recruitment of new members. Plus, it takes the pressure off your membership organization’s staff.

Use your member needs assessment to see if members are interested in joining a committee or taking on other volunteer roles within your organization. At the end of your survey, you can include contact information members can use to learn more about opportunities to get involved, in case the questions inspire them to follow-up.

You’ll also want to learn how and why members choose to volunteer, so you can shape your volunteer and committee offerings into the future.

What opportunities are you already taking advantage of? If none, why?

This question helps your association understand current engagement levels and barriers to participation, allowing you to identify and address obstacles that prevent members from getting involved.

What would make this kind of commitment easier for you?

By asking this, your association can uncover specific challenges members face in committing to volunteer roles or committees, enabling you to make adjustments that lower barriers and encourage greater involvement.

What do you enjoy the most and least about these commitments?

This question provides insights into the positive aspects of member involvement as well as areas for improvement, helping your association enhance the volunteer experience and retain engaged members.

Why do you volunteer/participate on a committee?

Understanding members’ motivations for volunteering or committee participation allows your association to better communicate the value of these opportunities and align them with members’ personal or professional goals.

Which local philanthropic organizations would you like to see our organization partner with?

This question helps your association identify potential partnership opportunities that resonate with your members’ values and interests, strengthening your community presence and offering meaningful engagement options.

Communication Preferences Questions

As you know, different members prefer different communication styles. Some might love email, while others might head towards “unsubscribe” if they get overwhelmed by messages. You might have members who prefer updates on social media, but others may not use it.

Asking your members what type of communication they like can help you:

• Show your members that you care about their preferences and can cater to their needs, building a relationship that encourages membership loyalty.
• Get the right information to your members at the right time, leading to higher engagement with your content and meetings.
• Give your members a chance to share communication concerns with you before they become a problem or cause them to stop their membership.

How do you prefer to stay updated about meeting times and dates?

This question helps your association identify the most effective communication channels for delivering meeting information, ensuring members receive updates in a way that fits their preferences and maximizes attendance.

How do you prefer to stay updated about changes in meeting times and dates?

By asking this, your association can understand the best methods for quickly and reliably communicating changes, reducing the risk of missed meetings or confusion among members.

On which platforms do you follow our organization? (based on which digital communication platforms you’re using—these could include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, email, etc.)

Knowing which platforms your members use to follow your association allows you to optimize your communication strategy by focusing efforts on the most popular channels, enhancing member engagement and reach.

Availability Survey Questions

Every member has a different schedule, and no one likes herding cats. Ask your members about the days and times they’re more likely to be available so you can schedule your communications and events at the times that work for them.

Your member needs assessment can also gauge whether current meeting times and locations are working for your members. Evaluate whether a call-in option would help those unable to make it in-person or whether your organization should offer services like childcare during your meetings and events.

Some questions to include in this category are:

How often do you think meetings should occur?

This question helps your association gauge the preferred meeting frequency, allowing you to align your scheduling with member preferences to maintain engagement without overburdening them.

What day of the week is best to meet?

Understanding the preferred days for meetings helps your association schedule sessions at times when members are most likely to attend, increasing participation rates.

What is the best time to meet? 

Identifying the best meeting times allows your association to plan sessions that fit into members’ schedules, enhancing convenience and attendance.

Do you feel that meetings are too long? Too short?

This question provides feedback on meeting length, helping your association adjust the duration to better suit member preferences and keep meetings productive and engaging.

What prevents you from attending?

By asking this, your association can uncover barriers to attendance, such as scheduling conflicts or accessibility issues, and take steps to address these challenges.

Would you come more often if childcare were available? If food was served?

This question helps identify additional supports that could increase attendance, allowing your association to provide resources like childcare or refreshments to make participation more feasible.

Are you interested in offsite meetings (for example, at a coffee shop, restaurant, park, etc.)?

Exploring interest in offsite meetings helps your association assess whether alternative venues could increase engagement and offer a more enjoyable or convenient meeting experience.

Would you prefer if we rotated meeting days to include some weekends?

Rotating meeting days, including weekends, can provide more flexible options for members with varying schedules, potentially boosting overall participation and accessibility.

Member Needs and Satisfaction Survey Questions

Make sure to cut to the chase: are your members actually happy? Ask some straightforward questions about their overall satisfaction. 

After all, high satisfaction is what increases the likelihood of membership renewals. With these questions, you can identify which members are currently dissatisfied, learn why, and make changes you think could improve both their experiences as well as the greater membership’s satisfaction as a whole.

Leave these questions open-ended so members can speak openly about whatever they want to say. It’s important they feel like they can be honest and direct with their feedback. This helps everyone in the end by identifying what’s working and what is not.

What makes you happy to be a member?

This question helps your association identify the key elements that contribute to member satisfaction, allowing you to continue to build on these strengths and promote them to retain and attract members.

What would you change?

By asking this, your association can gather constructive feedback on areas for improvement, enabling you to make changes that better align with member needs and enhance the overall membership experience.

How would you rate your overall satisfaction with your membership on a scale of 1-10?

This question provides a quantifiable measure of member satisfaction, allowing you to track changes over time and identify trends in member sentiment.

What was your primary reason for joining, and has that expectation been met?

Understanding the initial motivation for joining and whether expectations are met helps your association assess the effectiveness of your value proposition and make necessary adjustments.

What do you value most about your membership?

This question identifies the most appreciated aspects of membership, helping your association highlight and strengthen these areas to maintain member loyalty.

How likely are you to recommend membership to a colleague or peer?

This question acts as a measure of member advocacy and satisfaction, providing insights into how well your association meets the needs of its members.

Have you encountered any challenges as a member that we could help resolve?

Asking this helps your association identify pain points that members may face, providing an opportunity to address these issues and improve the member experience.

What additional resources or support would enhance your membership experience?

This question allows members to suggest new services or enhancements that could add value, helping your association stay responsive and relevant to member needs.

Make sure your questions are specific enough to identify what could be causing lower satisfaction levels. For example, the previous question asked specifically about satisfaction levels with the membership benefits rather than simply: Are you satisfied?

You can also include text boxes alongside quantitative measures to encourage respondents to explain their reasonings for these scores.

Advocacy Survey Questions

Advocacy efforts can be a key piece of an association’s value to its members. Marketing General Incorporated’s 2018 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report showed that 21% of survey respondents chose “supporting advocacy” as one of the top three reasons they join an organization’s membership. 

If your association or chamber participates in advocacy or lobbying activities, there are a few additional questions you should ask to see how you can support your members in this area.

Some questions to include within this category are:

Do you participate in our advocacy efforts? 

This question helps your association understand the level of member engagement in advocacy initiatives, allowing you to assess the effectiveness of your outreach and identify areas for increased involvement.

What is your preferred method of participation?

Understanding preferred methods of participation helps your association tailor advocacy opportunities to match member preferences, making it easier and more appealing for members to get involved.

What issues are most important to you?

This question identifies the key issues that resonate with your members, enabling your association to focus its advocacy efforts on topics that matter most to your community.

Which issues do you think will impact the industry the most within the next five years?

By asking this, your association can gain insights into members’ perspectives on future challenges and opportunities, helping you to proactively shape your advocacy agenda.

How do you think these issues will impact the industry?

This question helps your association understand members’ views on the potential effects of key issues, providing valuable context for shaping your advocacy strategies and communications.

Ensure Member Satisfaction Through a Member Needs Assessment

Want a faster, easier way to send and gather data for your member needs assessment surveys? Check out the MemberClicks demo, which can streamline the process.

Happy members are more likely to renew their memberships, and membership retention makes for a sustainable membership organization. We hope you’re able to create a member needs assessment survey to learn all you can about your supporters to keep them happy, encourage membership renewals, and continue to thrive as an organization!

The post 30+ Essential Membership Survey Questions appeared first on MemberClicks.

In this article, we will take a closer look at membership churn and its common causes. We’ll provide insights into how to improve retention rates and how to keep members engaged. Increasing member numbers for any membership-based organization is far too difficult to allow churn to cause an organization to slow down. Here’s a more proactive approach to maintaining your membership roster:

What is Membership Churn?

Membership churn is the number of an organization’s members who do not renew or cancel over a certain period. Some suggest membership churn is the opposite of membership retention. It is usually expressed as a percentage. A simple example would be if you had 100 members and 10 canceled or failed to renew, your customer churn rate would then be 10%.

Membership churn can also be called turnover or customer churn.

A high member churn rate usually results when members are not engaged, don’t recognize value, or are even ignored. Thankfully, these can all be addressed. It will result in reducing membership churn.

How Do You Calculate Churn Rate?

Churn rate can be determined for any period, whether it’s a week, month, year, or season.

To calculate the membership churn rate, you will need to know the number of members you had at the beginning of the period. You divide the number of members lost by the total number at the start of the period to calculate the member churn rate.

Churn Rate Formula

If an organization had 500 members at the start of a month and had 450 members at the end of the month, it lost 50 members, or .10.

The formula could be expressed as:

Lost members (50) divided by total members at the start of the period (500) x 100.

What is a Good Churn Rate For Membership Sites?

Churn rates can vary widely between products and services and industries. This can make it a bit of an unexact science to determine what is a “good” churn rate.

A 5-7% churn rate is often considered acceptable for a subscription-based membership site. Those operating at a membership churn rate of 4% or below are generally considered exceptional.

Organizations with an 8-10% churn need to monitor turnover carefully. Those with a churn rate above 10% are bailing water and are likely to have issues that need to be addressed. Thankfully, there are proven steps that can be taken to better manage these numbers.

Figure Out Why Churn is Happening

Even when churn rates are acceptable, it can be beneficial to proactively determine why any churn is occurring. While churn rates may be acceptable or even good, there are signs that you may be heading into choppy seas. Here is a look at some common symptoms.

Low Engagement

When member engagement wanes, it is often a sign that disinterest is growing, which can lead to churn. This is why keeping your members engaged in your organization is crucial.

Remember, disinterest can lead to a lack of member engagement, which can result in higher membership churn rates. Look for ways to keep members involved and engaged. This can be anything from polls and surveys to contests and referral campaigns. There are probably a number of wasted member engagement opportunities you may not be fully taking advantage of. Take an inventory of these opportunities and how you can better employ them.

Missing or Late Dues

Unpaid and late dues are a red flag when it comes to member churn. When dues are late or unpaid, it frequently means there is a lack of interest, and membership is no longer a priority.

It is important to monitor dues and subscription payments, giving members plenty of notice, reasons to renew, and perhaps even incentives. Even when members cancel, they may be able to be restored at some future time.

Diminishing Contributions

Another sign of growing member churn is when a nonprofit begins to see its overall and average donations shrink. This could be a sign that some members have discovered a new nonprofit to champion or have simply lost faith in your organization.

If you are at a loss for why contributions may be dwindling, ask your members with a “How are we doing?” survey. If members aren’t thinking about you, you may be losing their support. Member management software can help you track shrinking donations from individuals, providing an opportunity to proactively address them.

Not Taking Advantage of Membership Benefits

One of the reasons they offer member benefits is to attract members initially and to retain them. When members no longer take advantage of these benefits, they may not perceive them as having value. They also may not simply be aware of them.

Getting members to take advantage of benefits available to them should be a part of your member engagement strategy. Remember, when it comes time for renewal, members will weigh costs vs the perceived value they get in return. Keep member benefits pertinent and appealing, and take steps to make sure they are being utilized.

If you haven’t recently conducted a member survey regarding what benefits they would like to see more of, now may be a good time to ask. It also serves as yet another way you can engage them.

Best Ways to Reduce Membership Churn

So, you may realize your member churn rate may be higher than you would like, and you may even recognize some of the symptoms. What, then, are some of the best ways to reduce membership churn?

Have a Solid Member Onboarding Sequence

Minimizing churn in any organization starts by ensuring you have a well crafted, member onboarding process.

This starts with a warm and sincere welcome and extends through a complete explanation of member benefits. Detail what your organization does and why. Encourage them to be involved and demonstrate ways they can make a difference. Make them aware that if they have any questions and concerns, you are there to help.

Be Accessible to Your Members

Knowing how your members prefer to be contacted and making your organization accessible are key components in limiting churn. The lines of communication must be kept as seamless as possible, and a prompt response to any inquiries is crucial.

Provide Alternatives to Canceling

Too often, an organization and its members view cancellations as a black and white issue. In fact, there are alternatives to accepting a cancelation that should be offered to reduce churn.

A reduced or special rate may be an option. Perhaps a lower support level could help maintain support, at least at some level. There are value-added features you may be able to offer. Ideally, you want to say to a member, “Rather than canceling your membership, how about….?” If you can finish the sentence with an attractive alternative, you may have just reduced member churn.

Keep Creating Engaging Content

One of the reasons members are driven to an organization or association is to stay connected and in contact. This is frequently done through news and industry updates. Keeping the content available to your members up-to-date, accurate, and pertinent to them is vital.

Provide examples of how national or world events impact them and your organization. Offer them tips and human interest stories. The fresher and more actionable your content is, the more value you are delivering to your audience.

Educational opportunities are perceived as having great value to members of an association. Keep members on top of trends and technology.

Pre-qualify Your Offering And Your Leads

Another factor that can lead to high turnover or churn is that it is likely that some of those in your organization may not belong in the first place. They may be joining just for a particular benefit. They may not have a real interest in the organization or a reason to maintain membership.

You can reduce member churn by pre-qualifying candidates for membership to ensure they are quality leads. Like customers, no two members are created the same. Ideally, you want an organization of active, involved, and supportive members.

Pre-qualifying leads can make your organization stronger and minimize membership churn.

Don’t Over-hype or Mis-sell Your Membership

Sure, you want to increase members and supporters. Of course, you would like to increase your ranks and income. Just be aware that activities used to increase membership can lead to higher member turnover rates. If you oversell your organization, ove-rhype its activities, and over-promote your benefits, it can lead to disappointment and cancellations.

Organizations can sometimes be distracted by the lure of a shiny new member so that they forget that an uninvolved, uninterested, and unengaged one has little value. They may, in fact, be a cost to the organization. To reduce member churn, focus on increasing the quality of your membership. Maintain the integrity of your sales/recruiting process. It will pay off in a lower membership churn.

Key Points

In review, the key points in managing and reducing membership churn include:

• Know Your Churn Rate

If you are not tracking your churn rate, start now. Measure and track it by the month or year. Organizations that have churn rates affected seasonally can benefit from tracking them quarterly. The higher your churn rate, the more effort it will take to reduce it.

• Look for Symptoms

Higher churn rates have symptoms. They could include late payments or missing payments. Contributions may be down. Member engagement may be lagging. Interest and energy could be lacking.

• Reduce Membership Churn by Addressing Symptoms

Knowing the symptoms of a high churn rate is one thing, addressing and correcting them is another.

If members aren’t engaged, purposely and intentionally engage them. If contributions are down, determine why. Stay on top of renewal payments and monitor them closely. Improve and upgrade content and educational opportunities.

• Review Your Onboarding Process

Are candidates qualified? Review your membership benefits to make sure they appeal to members and are being taken advantage of. Ensure communications are seamless, and member contact is handled through the member’s preferred methods. Provide members with easy-to-understand details of what the organization does, how it does it, and statistical data to back up its effectiveness.

• Think Quality, Not Just Quantity

There is a cost to membership churn. It wastes energy, time, and resources. Churn can stall momentum and impact morale.

When you raise your standards and seek to improve the quality of your membership roster, you are building an organization of long-term supporters. You are building a community of people who are easier to keep engaged and who will take advantage of member benefits. Not only will support improve and membership strengthen, but you will also reduce membership churn.

• Factors Beyond Your Control

While there are certainly are steps you can take to manage membership churn, the reality is some factors remain out of your control.

These can include: the economy, employment data, and inflation. There may even be factors locally that may impact membership churn. A large lay-off at a local or regional employer, for example. You may want to make note of these when tracking churn rate.

Conclusion

Even though membership churn and customer turnover are a normal aspect of organizations, associations, and businesses, they can still be a source of frustration. Even organizations with acceptable or low membership churn rates can view them as wasteful or even as a sign of failure.

The good news is, as we have learned, there are steps your organization can take in reducing membership churn. It is also important to note that there is technology available to assist in membership management and membership churn.

We encourage you to learn more at MemberClicks. Let’s connect members to your mission!

The post How to Reduce Membership Churn appeared first on MemberClicks.

However, to truly maximize the potential of an LMS, it’s crucial to go beyond simply installing the software. 

Following best practices ensures that your LMS not only meets the immediate needs of your members but also evolves with your organization’s goals.

This guide explores key strategies and best practices for making the most of your LMS, from gaining stakeholder buy-in and setting clear goals to optimizing user engagement and integrating with other essential systems. 

Whether you’re just starting your LMS journey or looking to enhance an existing platform, these insights will help you create a dynamic, member-focused learning environment that drives value and fosters a strong connection with your association.

Stakeholder Buy-In: The Foundation of Your LMS Success

Implementing a new learning management system is a significant step that can transform how your organization learns and grows. But without the support of key stakeholders, even the most advanced LMS can fall short of its potential.

Why Stakeholder Buy-In Matters

Getting buy-in from leaders, managers, and influencers within your organization ensures that the LMS is not just another tool but a valued asset embraced by everyone. Stakeholders can champion the LMS, driving enthusiasm and adoption across teams. Their support helps in:

• Allocating Resources Effectively: Stakeholders can ensure the LMS gets the necessary funding and personnel.
• Facilitating Smooth Implementation: With their backing, overcoming obstacles becomes easier.
• Aligning the LMS with Organizational Goals: They help tailor the LMS to meet specific strategic objectives.

Strategies to Secure Stakeholder Commitment

Securing stakeholder commitment is essential for the successful implementation of your LMS. 

Present your vision for the LMS: A good starting point is to communicate the vision clearly by highlighting how the LMS will address existing challenges, improve efficiency, and contribute to the organization’s success. Use real-life examples, such as success stories or case studies from similar organizations, to illustrate the potential benefits and make the vision more tangible.

Involve stakeholders early in the process: Invite them to participate in the selection and planning stages, allowing them to share their input and feel invested in the project. Be proactive in addressing concerns by listening to feedback and making adjustments as needed, which shows that their opinions are valued and considered.

Demonstrating the return on investment (ROI): Present data and projections that outline expected outcomes, such as increased productivity or cost savings, and set measurable goals with clear key performance indicators (KPIs) to track the LMS’s impact over time. This approach helps stakeholders see the tangible benefits of the LMS and justifies their support.

Offering training and support: Provide hands-on demonstrations so stakeholders can experience the LMS firsthand and understand its capabilities. Ensure ongoing assistance is available to address any questions or issues, making the transition smoother and building confidence in the system.

Maintain open communication: A key to sustaining stakeholder commitment. Keep them informed with regular updates on implementation progress and milestones, and establish feedback channels to allow continuous input and dialogue. This ongoing partnership not only secures initial buy-in but also cultivates a collaborative environment where learning and development can thrive.

Clear Goals and KPIs: Navigating Your LMS for Member Success

Implementing a learning management system without clear objectives is like embarking on a journey without a map. For associations, setting specific goals and KPIs ensures your LMS delivers real value to your members.

The Importance of Clear Goals

Defining precise goals helps align your LMS with your organization’s mission to serve and engage your membership. It enables you to focus on what matters most to your members, measure success effectively, and demonstrate the LMS’s impact on their professional development.

Defining Effective LMS Goals

Start by understanding your members’ needs. Engage with them through surveys or feedback sessions to identify the educational content they’re seeking. 

Use these insights to set goals that are specific, measurable, relevant, and time-bound. For example, you might aim to increase member participation in online courses by 25% over the next year.

Establishing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

KPIs help you track progress toward your goals. Consider monitoring metrics such as member engagement levels, course completion rates, and satisfaction scores for your educational offerings. 

Monitoring KPIs allows you to gauge the effectiveness of your LMS and make data-driven decisions. Here are some KPIs relevant to member-based organizations:

1. Member Engagement Levels
   • Login Frequency: How often are members accessing the LMS?
   • Active User Percentage: What portion of your membership is using the platform regularly?
2. Course Completion Rates
   • Overall Completion Rate: Percentage of members who finish courses they start.
   • Time to Completion: Average time members take to complete a course.
3. Content Effectiveness
   • Assessment Scores: How well are members performing on quizzes and evaluations?
   • Feedback Ratings: Member satisfaction scores for courses and resources.
4. Membership Growth and Retention
   • New Memberships Attributed to LMS: Number of new members joining because of LMS offerings.
   • Renewal Rates: Increase in renewals linked to LMS engagement.
5. Continuing Education Credits Awarded
   • Credits Earned: Total number of professional development credits members earn through the LMS.

Regular Review and Adaptation

Periodically assess your LMS’s performance against your KPIs. Be prepared to adjust your goals and strategies based on what the data reveals and the evolving needs of your members. This flexibility ensures your LMS remains a relevant and valuable resource.

By setting clear goals and KPIs tailored to your members, you transform your LMS into a powerful tool that enhances their professional growth and strengthens their connection to your organization. 

With a focused approach, your LMS will not only meet but exceed member expectations, solidifying your role as a leader in providing meaningful educational opportunities.

User Training and Support: Empowering Members to Maximize Your LMS

Implementing a new learning management system is a significant step for professional and trade associations. To ensure your members reap the full benefits, providing comprehensive user training and ongoing support is crucial.

Even the most advanced LMS can fall short if members aren’t comfortable using it. Effective training helps members:

• Navigate the Platform Confidently: Understanding how to access courses, resources, and features enhances their experience.
• Engage More Deeply: Familiarity with the LMS encourages regular use and participation.
• Achieve Better Outcomes: Well-trained members can fully leverage the LMS for their professional development.

Strategies for Effective Training

Effective training is essential to ensure that your members can fully utilize your LMS and engage with its offerings. A well-executed training strategy not only boosts confidence in using the platform but also enhances overall member satisfaction and participation.

1. Offer Introductory Tutorials

Effective training begins with offering introductory tutorials that familiarize members with the LMS. Short video walkthroughs can demonstrate key functionalities in an engaging and accessible manner, allowing members to visually learn how to navigate the platform. 

Complementing videos with interactive guides that provide step-by-step instructions within the LMS helps users explore features at their own pace, building confidence and proficiency.

2. Host Live Webinars

Hosting live webinars is another powerful training strategy. These real-time sessions enable members to ask questions directly, fostering a more interactive and personalized learning experience. 

Webinars can also highlight new or underutilized features, encouraging members to fully leverage the LMS’s capabilities and stay updated with the latest enhancements.

3. Develop a Resource Library

Developing a comprehensive resource library provides ongoing support and empowers members to troubleshoot independently. Including a well-organized FAQ section addresses common questions and offers quick solutions to typical issues. 

Providing downloadable user manuals gives members a handy reference they can consult anytime, enhancing their ability to navigate the LMS effectively without immediate assistance.

4. Providing Ongoing Support

Member needs may evolve over time, so continuous support is essential.

• Dedicated Support Channels: Establish an email address or helpdesk specifically for LMS inquiries.
• Community Forums: Encourage members to share tips and help each other.
• Feedback Mechanisms: Implement forms or surveys to gather input on user experience.

5. Personalizing the Experience

Consider segmenting training based on member roles or interests.

• Customized Content Paths: Tailor learning journeys for different professional levels.
• Language Options: If applicable, offer materials in multiple languages to accommodate a diverse membership.

By investing in comprehensive training and robust support, you empower your members to make the most of your LMS. This not only enhances their professional growth but also strengthens their connection to your organization.

Integration with Other Systems: Creating a Seamless Experience for Your Members

An LMS that operates in isolation can limit its effectiveness. Integrating your LMS with other key systems within your organization, such as your membership CRM, creates a cohesive and efficient user experience that benefits your members and your association alike.

Integrating your LMS with other systems streamlines data management and enhances the overall functionality of your technology ecosystem. For instance, syncing your LMS with your CRM allows you to track member activity, preferences, and learning progress in one place. 

This not only provides valuable insights into member engagement but also enables you to tailor content and communications to better meet their needs. Integration also reduces administrative burdens by automating processes such as user enrollment and data entry, freeing up valuable time for your staff to focus on higher-value tasks.

Enhancing Member Experience

A well-integrated LMS offers members a seamless and intuitive experience. When systems are connected, members can enjoy single sign-on capabilities, allowing them to access learning resources without the hassle of multiple logins. 

Integration with your association’s event management tools can further enrich the member experience by linking LMS courses with live events, webinars, or workshops, creating a more holistic approach to professional development. 

This interconnectedness not only boosts engagement but also reinforces your association’s value by providing members with a unified platform for all their learning and networking needs.

Scalability and Future-Proofing

As your association grows and evolves, having an integrated LMS ensures your technology can scale with you. By connecting your LMS with other critical systems, you build a flexible infrastructure that can adapt to changing member expectations and technological advancements. 

Whether it’s incorporating new tools, expanding course offerings, or responding to shifts in industry standards, integration keeps your LMS relevant and robust, ensuring it continues to serve your members effectively well into the future.

Customization and Branding: Personalizing Your LMS for Member Engagement

For associations, an LMS that reflects your organization’s unique identity can significantly enhance member engagement and satisfaction. 

Customization and branding are not just about aesthetics; they are about creating a familiar and cohesive learning environment that resonates with your members and reinforces your association’s values and mission.

The Power of Customization

Customization allows you to tailor the LMS to meet the specific needs and preferences of your members. From personalized dashboards to role-based content recommendations, customization can make the learning experience more relevant and accessible. 

By offering customized learning paths, you can guide members through content that aligns with their professional development goals, ensuring they find the resources that are most valuable to them. This level of personalization not only improves the member experience but also increases the likelihood of continued engagement with the LMS.

Branding Your LMS

Branding your LMS with your association’s logos, colors, and style elements creates a seamless extension of your organization’s online presence. A branded LMS feels like a natural part of your association’s offerings, helping to build trust and familiarity. 

When members log in, they should immediately recognize the LMS as an extension of your association, not as a separate, disconnected tool. This consistency reinforces your brand’s identity and strengthens the connection members feel with your organization.

Mobile Accessibility: Learning On-the-Go for Modern Members

In today’s fast-paced world, members of professional and trade associations expect to access learning resources anytime, anywhere. Ensuring that your learning management system is optimized for mobile devices is not just a nice-to-have—it’s essential. Mobile accessibility expands your reach and allows members to engage with content on their terms, enhancing the value of your LMS.

Why Mobile Accessibility Matters for an LMS

Members are increasingly relying on smartphones and tablets to manage their professional development alongside their busy lives. A mobile-friendly LMS allows them to fit learning into their schedules, whether it’s during a commute, between meetings, or from the comfort of their home. 

By providing this flexibility, you make it easier for members to stay engaged with your content, leading to higher participation rates and greater satisfaction with your association’s offerings.

Optimizing Your LMS for Mobile Use

To truly capitalize on mobile accessibility, your LMS should offer a responsive design that adapts to various screen sizes and orientations. Navigation should be intuitive, with easy-to-tap buttons and clear menus that make it simple for members to find what they need quickly. 

Mobile-friendly content formats, such as short videos, podcasts, and bite-sized reading materials, can enhance the learning experience on smaller screens. Additionally, features like offline access can empower members to download materials and continue learning without needing an internet connection.

User Engagement Strategies: Keeping Members Active and Invested in Your LMS

For professional and trade associations, an LMS that merely provides content isn’t enough; it must also engage members and encourage continuous learning. Implementing user engagement strategies is key to ensuring your LMS remains a vibrant, interactive resource that keeps members coming back.

The Importance of Engaging Content

To capture and maintain member interest, the content in your LMS should be diverse, relevant, and interactive. Incorporating a variety of formats—such as videos, quizzes, discussion forums, and interactive modules—can cater to different learning preferences and make the experience more dynamic. 

Content that is directly aligned with members’ professional needs and industry trends will resonate more deeply, making them more likely to participate actively and recommend the LMS to their peers.

Incorporating Gamification and Social Learning

Gamification elements can significantly boost engagement within your LMS by adding motivation and a sense of competition. Features such as badges, points, leaderboards, and certificates make learning more enjoyable and rewarding, providing members with tangible recognition for their efforts and fostering a sense of achievement.

To further enhance engagement, consider integrating social learning features that encourage collaboration and interaction among members. Options include:

• Peer Reviews: Allow members to provide feedback on each other’s work, promoting deeper learning and reflection.
• Group Projects: Facilitate teamwork and practical application of skills, fostering a collaborative environment.
• Community Discussion Boards: Create spaces for members to connect, share insights, and discuss course materials.

These elements not only enrich the learning experience but also help build a sense of community, making your LMS a more valuable resource for your members.

Personalizing the Learning Experience

Personalization is another powerful strategy for driving engagement. Allow members to set their own learning paths based on their interests, roles, or career goals. Use data analytics to recommend courses or resources tailored to their past activity or expressed preferences.

This approach not only makes the LMS feel more relevant to each member but also helps them see a clear pathway for their professional development, which can boost both initial engagement and long-term commitment.

Continuous Evaluation and Improvement: Keeping Your LMS Relevant and Effective

For professional and trade associations, an LMS should be a living, evolving resource that adapts to the changing needs of your members. Continuous evaluation and improvement of your LMS are crucial for maintaining its relevance and effectiveness, ensuring it remains a valuable tool for member engagement and professional development.

Assess Your LMS Usage Regularly

To keep your LMS aligned with your organization’s goals and your members’ expectations, regular assessment is essential. This process involves reviewing the performance of the LMS through analytics and member feedback to identify what’s working well and where improvements are needed. 

Tracking metrics such as course completion rates, member satisfaction scores, and engagement levels can provide insights into how effectively the LMS is meeting its objectives. 

By understanding these trends, you can make informed decisions about where to adjust content, features, or user experience.

Gathering and Acting on Member Feedback

Member feedback is a powerful tool for continuous improvement. Implementing simple feedback mechanisms, such as post-course surveys or suggestion boxes within the LMS, allows you to capture members’ thoughts on their learning experience. 

Pay close attention to their suggestions, complaints, and ideas for new content or features. This feedback loop not only helps you identify areas for enhancement but also demonstrates to members that their input is valued, which can increase their engagement and satisfaction.

Adapting to Evolving Needs

The landscape of professional development is constantly evolving, and your LMS should keep pace with these changes. Stay updated with industry trends and emerging learning technologies to ensure your LMS remains a cutting-edge resource. 

Regularly refresh content to include new topics, update outdated information, and introduce innovative learning formats, such as microlearning or virtual reality simulations, where appropriate. 

Being proactive about updates and improvements keeps your LMS relevant and ensures it continues to provide high value to your members.

Content Strategy: Crafting Meaningful Learning Experiences for Your Members

The success of your learning management system hinges on the quality and relevance of the content you provide. A well-defined content strategy ensures that your LMS offers valuable, engaging, and purposeful learning experiences that align with your members’ professional needs and your organization’s mission.

Understanding Your Audience’s Needs

A successful content strategy begins with a deep understanding of your members. Regularly gather insights through surveys, focus groups, and data analysis to identify the topics and skills that matter most to them. 

By knowing your audience’s preferences, pain points, and career aspirations, you can tailor your content to address their specific needs. This targeted approach not only enhances member satisfaction but also increases the likelihood of ongoing engagement with your LMS.

Aligning Content with Organizational Goals

Your LMS content should also reflect the broader goals of your association, whether that’s promoting industry standards, enhancing member competencies, or supporting certification programs. 

Establish clear objectives for your content, such as improving member retention, driving participation in association events, or expanding your reach to new demographics. 

Aligning content with these goals ensures that your LMS supports both your members’ professional growth and your association’s strategic initiatives.

Diverse and Dynamic Content Formats

To keep members engaged, offer a mix of content formats that cater to different learning styles and preferences. This might include: 

• Videos: Deliver engaging visual content that helps members understand complex topics quickly and effectively.
• Podcasts: Provide on-the-go learning opportunities through audio content, perfect for busy professionals who prefer listening.
• Articles: Offer in-depth written resources that allow members to explore topics at their own pace and revisit key information.
• Interactive Quizzes: Test knowledge and reinforce learning by providing immediate feedback, making the content more memorable.
• Case Studies: Present real-world examples and practical applications that help members connect theory to practice within their industry.

Incorporate a balance of foundational knowledge and advanced topics to cater to both new and seasoned members. Additionally, keep your content fresh by regularly updating existing materials and introducing new topics that reflect the latest industry trends and innovations. 

Measuring Content Effectiveness

Regularly evaluate the performance of your content using analytics and member feedback. Track metrics such as:

• Content Completion Rates: Measure how often members finish the courses they start, indicating the effectiveness and engagement level of your LMS content.
• Member Satisfaction Scores: Gauge how satisfied members are with the learning experience, helping to identify areas for improvement and highlight what’s working well.
• Impact on Professional Development Outcomes: Assess how courses contribute to members’ career growth and skill advancement, demonstrating the value of your LMS offerings.

Use these insights to refine your content strategy, removing or updating materials that are underperforming and expanding on successful topics. This continuous improvement approach ensures that your LMS remains a valuable, evolving resource that meets the needs of your members.

Support for Different Learning Styles: Catering to Every Member’s Learning Preferences

A one-size-fits-all approach to learning doesn’t always meet the diverse needs of your members. Supporting different learning styles within your learning management system can significantly enhance the member experience and ensure that your educational offerings are accessible and effective for all.

Understanding Learning Styles

Members learn and engage with content in various ways, and understanding these differences is crucial for maximizing the impact of your LMS. By incorporating a variety of learning methods, you can cater to diverse preferences, ensuring that each member finds the content accessible and engaging. 

This approach not only broadens your reach but also enhances the overall learning experience, leading to higher satisfaction and better outcomes for your members. Offering multiple formats, such as: 

• Reading: Cater to members who prefer text-based learning through articles, eBooks, and written guides, allowing them to absorb information at their own pace.
• Visuals: Engage visual learners with videos, infographics, and slide presentations that make complex information easier to understand.
• Hands-on, Interactive Experiences: Support kinesthetic learners with interactive simulations, quizzes, and practical exercises that encourage active participation and learning by doing.

Diversifying Content Formats

To effectively support different learning styles, aim to offer a range of content formats within your LMS. For example, complement text-based resources with visual aids such as diagrams and videos to cater to both visual and reading/writing learners. 

Include audio options, like podcasts or recorded webinars, to engage those who prefer listening. Additionally, incorporate interactive elements like quizzes, drag-and-drop activities, or scenario-based simulations to provide a more hands-on learning experience. 

This variety not only makes your LMS more inclusive but also allows members to choose the learning style that best suits them, enhancing their overall engagement and retention of information.

Employ Feedback Mechanisms: Enhancing Your LMS Through Member Input

For professional and trade associations, member feedback is invaluable in keeping your learning management system relevant, effective, and aligned with the needs of your audience. 

Implementing robust feedback mechanisms allows you to continuously refine and improve your LMS, ensuring it remains a vital resource for your members’ professional growth.

Implementing Effective Feedback Mechanisms

To capture meaningful feedback, integrate multiple channels within your LMS where members can easily share their thoughts. Post-course surveys are a simple yet powerful tool for gauging member satisfaction and gathering suggestions for improvement. 

Include questions that cover various aspects of the learning experience, such as content relevance, ease of navigation, and overall satisfaction. Additionally, consider adding a feedback button on every page or module, providing members with a quick way to report issues or offer suggestions in real time. Encouraging open-ended responses can also yield deeper insights into member expectations and ideas.

Acting on Feedback to Drive Continuous Improvement

Collecting feedback is only the first step; acting on it is what truly drives value. Regularly review the feedback you receive and look for recurring themes or common concerns. Use this data to prioritize updates and enhancements that will have the greatest impact on member satisfaction. 

Communicate any changes or improvements you make in response to feedback, reinforcing to your members that their voices are heard and valued. This not only builds trust but also encourages ongoing participation in your feedback processes, creating a positive cycle of continuous improvement.

Ready to Build a Great LMS?

Successfully implementing and managing an LMS requires thoughtful planning, continuous evaluation, and a commitment to meeting the diverse needs of your members. 

By following best practices—such as securing stakeholder buy-in, setting clear goals, offering robust training, and supporting various learning styles—you can create an engaging and effective learning platform that adds significant value to your association. 

Remember, the key to a thriving LMS is ongoing adaptation and responsiveness to feedback, ensuring that it remains a relevant and powerful tool for your members’ professional development. With these strategies in place, your LMS can become a cornerstone of your association’s efforts to educate, engage, and empower your community.

Request a Demo of Classroom from MemberClicks

To see what a learning management system can do for your organization, we invite you to explore our LMS, Classroom. Discover how Classroom can transform your educational programs and provide an engaging experience for your members. Start delivering quality content and get your members learning today! 

The post 11 Best Practices for Your Learning Management System appeared first on MemberClicks.

Understanding your members is a core component in building a strong, vibrant organization, and creating a member persona can help drive engagement, improve retention, and increase satisfaction for professional organizations.

In this article, you will learn, step by step, how to create effective member personas that best reflect your membership. We’ll explore best practices for building and maintaining these personas and the importance of updating them. If you are not utilizing member personas for your organization, get ready to discover a powerful new tool. If you are using them, get prepared to power them up. Here is what you need to craft effective association personas.

Member Persons: The Basics

Definition

A member persona is a description of an ideal member or prospective member of an organization. Rather than a broad generalization of a target audience, a member persona dives deeper into the professional and personal traits of a desired member.

It is, in essence, a composite of the characteristics of your typical members and potential members.

Purpose

The purpose of a member persona is to help associations recognize and visualize that their members are more complex than just being sorted by education, job status, or age. There are a myriad of other factors that go into a member persona, including the number of children, marital status, hobbies, interests, and how they are likely to spend their free time.

The more details in a member persona, the better an association may be able to relate to their members. This can be beneficial in planning events, programs, and in providing communications and services.

The Benefits of Developing Member Personas

Personalization

Member personas are extremely valuable in humanizing your members. Rather than sorting them into education levels, regions, or job status, it infuses a certain personality into the membership roll. This serves to create better connections and into the development of more personalized member experiences.

Targeted Communication

Member personas can be a crucial tool in keeping your messaging on target and on point. Association communications should be seen through the point of view of a persona to make sure they connect. It can help steer messaging to keep it relevant.

Improved Member Engagement

One of the best ways to improve member engagement is by strengthening relationships with members and crafting engagement opportunities that will appeal to your members. Member personas help provide the roadmap for engagement ideas that will entice members.

Steps to Creating Accurate Member Personas

Since you will be relying heavily on your member personas, crafting them accurately is vital.

Step 1: Gather Data

Crafting effective member personas begins with gathering data from a variety of sources. These can include current member data, polls and surveys, personal interviews, and industry data and statistics. Build personas that include input from both current members and desired potential members. Look for common denominators.

Step 2: Segment Your Audience

As you gather information from various sources, you will likely begin to see commonalities and trends in demographics, behaviors, likes and dislikes, and more.

When certain traits show up repeatedly, they begin to shape a potential persona. In some cases, statistics can be averaged. Each trait, like and dislike, and need can serve as building blocks. These segments can help facilitate better connectivity with current members as well as in member acquisition.

Step 3: Identify Common Traits and Challenges

Pinpoint characteristics that seem to dominate in your research phase. What goals do they have in common? Be sure to include pain points. Place traits in groups or segments. As these characteristics emerge, they will begin to build a more defined persona.

Step 4: Create Detailed Profile

Once you have performed your research and identified and sorted traits and characteristics, it is time to build your persona. Include demographics, goals, challenges, and preferred communication channels.

Is this a person who pretends to be involved in his community? Do they value building friendships and increasing their knowledge? It may even prove to be helpful to identify individual personas by a fictitious name.

An Example of an Association Member Persona

“Manager Mark is a 40-year-old sales manager who is married with two children in middle school. He owns a small home and hopes to buy a larger home within the next two years. He is active in his community. He enjoys sports and takes every opportunity to travel. He is technologically proficient and enjoys the latest in electronic devices. He communicates mainly via text, but checks his email regularly. He drinks socially and enjoys gathering with friends to watch sports and to have barbecues. He is driven to be successful in his career and recently completed courses to earn his Bachelors Degree.”

Maintaining and Updating Member Personas

Continuous Improvement

It is important to reevaluate and revisit any member persona created to make adjustments. After investing in the initial creation of these personas, it is crucial to maintain their accuracy and relevancy.

Feedback Loop

After you create your persona or personas, you should continue to gather information to improve their accuracy. Use surveys and polls to expand your membership data. Conduct surveys at events.

Make a conscious effort to expand upon what you know about your current member roster. Surveys can be an efficient vehicle to accomplish this. What are the traits and characteristics that can provide valuable input in focusing in on your member prosonas.

This ongoing research will serve to continually improve the accuracy of your personas.

Conclusion

Building member personas can be a game changer for associations looking to strengthen relationships, boost engagement, and improve retention. By gathering data through surveys and interviews, you can uncover key traits and characteristics of your members, which can then be organized into specific personas. These personas enhance communication, keep your messaging on target, and transform your member roster into a dynamic, relatable group with real goals and aspirations.

We encourage you to begin your own journey in creating a member persona for your association. What else would you like to know about them? We encourage you to get started and share your experiences. The persona creation process can be enlightening, informative, and educational. It also can be a bit of fun. Enjoy the process along with the potential benefits you can realize when they are put to use.

Connect Better with MemberClicks

At MemberClicks, it is our mission to help organizations, associations, non-profits, and event planners become more efficient. Our software is designed to help with everything from member sign-ups and processing to event management. We can help you make the most of the data available to you and to increase your efficiency and effectiveness.

The next step is up to you. Contact us at MemberClicks to book a demo. Let us show you how MemberClicks can help take your association to the next level!

The post How to Craft Effective Member Personas  appeared first on MemberClicks.

An effective sponsorship request letter can be the first step in securing a partner for your event that can work for the mutual benefit of both.

Make no mistake, securing event sponsorships can be very competitive. Your organization will need to stand apart and demonstrate a value to the potential sponsor. Your request should include some specific elements, details, and benefits. Here is how to create an effective sponsorship request letter that will generate a positive response.

What Is a Sponsorship Request Letter?

A sponsorship request letter is a written, formal request for funding sent frequently by a non-profit organization to a for-profit organization. Rather than a request for a donation, a sponsorship request letter seeks to build a relationship between the two organizations in the form of a sponsorship of a specific event.

In exchange for funding for the event, the sponsoring organization receives certain marketing and other benefits that can help enhance the sponsor’s image and brand.

A sponsorship request letter should explain the details of the proposed sponsorship and the benefits to the sponsor. It should also detail the amount of money requested in exchange for the sponsorship.

Sponsorship request letters can be written to small, local businesses or to large national sponsors. Requests can range from large “Title” sponsors to smaller participation sponsorships.

The amount of funding requested in a sponsorship request letter will generally parallel the amount of value proposed in return for the funding.

How To Ask for Sponsorship for an Event

Making a request to a prospective sponsor should be thoughtfully and carefully planned.

Verify Your Request Is Directed to the Appropriate Person

If your request is directed to the wrong department or a person who is no longer at the company you are reaching out to, it demonstrates a serious lack of due diligence. It is absolutely critical your request for a sponsorship letter gets into the right person’s hands at the outset. This may take reaching out to the organization several times to verify contact information.

Personalize Your Letter

Make the effort to personalize your outreach to the person and company you are reaching out to. A little extra research can pay dividends.

Create a Target List of Potential Sponsors

Not every company may be a good prospect to be a sponsor for your event. Select companies that align with the mission of your organization or the event. The sponsorship should make sense for both parties and the sponsorship should be logical. Research prospective sponsors, so the sponsorship has obvious value.

Elaborate On Sponsorship Benefits

Consider and list the specific benefits of each sponsorship, including name and logo placement, signage at the event, inclusion in social media, booth space at the event, and more. Each and every valuable element should be detailed. It can be helpful to place a value on each benefit.

Create a Website

Odds are, details surrounding your event and their benefits can be extensive. It can be helpful to place the full details of your sponsorship proposal and all options in one place. This can allow you to provide more detailed info via a link in your email request.

Follow Up

It is unlikely any request for a sponsorship will receive an unprompted positive response. Expect to follow up when asking for sponsorship. Listen carefully to concerns and questions. Take notes. Don’t feel compelled to make an immediate response. It may be prudent to take some time and carefully assess your prospects concerns. Work to demonstrate you are willing to be flexible in working out a sponsorship that can be acceptable and beneficial to you both.

How To Write a Sponsorship Letter: A Step-by-Step Guide

Crafting a compelling sponsorship request letter is more than just asking for support—it’s about presenting a partnership opportunity that benefits both parties. Follow this structured approach to create a persuasive and professional sponsorship proposal.

1. Start With a Personalized and Engaging Introduction

Your introduction is your first impression—make it count. Address the recipient by name and reference something specific about their company, past sponsorships, or shared values. A personalized opening demonstrates that you’ve done your research and helps capture their attention right away.

2. Highlight the Impact and Importance of Your Event or Project

Clearly articulate the significance of your event or initiative. Explain who it benefits, how it aligns with the sponsor’s goals, and the scale of its reach. Will it attract thousands of attendees? Offer media exposure? Support a meaningful cause?

Provide a compelling snapshot that makes the sponsor see the value of being involved.

3. Showcase Customized Sponsorship Benefits

One of the best ways to polish your proposal and really make it shine is by explaining the customized benefits of the sponsorship. Sponsors want to know what’s in it for them. Go beyond generic perks and outline specific, tailored benefits they’ll receive. These could include:

• Logo placement on event materials, websites, and social media
• Exclusive sponsorship rights
• VIP seating and speaking opportunities
• Product demonstrations and brand activations
• Networking access with key industry figures
  By customizing these benefits, you make your proposal more enticing and relevant.

4. Offer Sponsorship Levels with Clear Value Propositions

An excellent way to improve the response and success rates of a sponsorship request letter is to offer alternatives to your higher levels of sponsorship. Provide multiple sponsorship tiers that accommodate different budget levels. Clearly outline what each level includes, ensuring sponsors can easily see the value of each option. Use a simple structure (e.g., Gold, Silver, Bronze) or customize packages to fit their business goals. This flexibility increases your chances of securing a commitment.

5. Build Credibility with Metrics and Testimonials

Prove your event’s success with data. Share audience demographics, previous sponsorship outcomes, and any measurable ROI from past events. If possible, include testimonials from past sponsors who saw positive results. Demonstrating credibility reassures sponsors that their investment is worthwhile.

6. Include a Strong Call to Action with Incentives

Don’t leave sponsors guessing about the next step—make it clear what action they should take. Encourage urgency by offering incentives for early commitments, such as premium placement, additional promotional opportunities, or discounts. Phrases like “Secure your sponsorship by [date] to receive exclusive perks” help drive action.

7. Express Gratitude and Outline Next Steps

Show appreciation for their time and consideration. Let them know you’ll follow up and suggest a meeting or call to discuss their potential involvement further. A warm and professional closing strengthens the relationship, whether they choose to sponsor now or in the future.

8. Provide Contact Information and Additional Resources

Make it easy for them to get in touch. Include your direct contact details and offer additional materials, such as sponsorship decks, past event reports, or case studies. Being proactive about providing information makes it easier for sponsors to say yes.

By following these steps, you’ll craft a compelling sponsorship request letter that increases your chances of securing valuable partnerships

Sponsorship Request Letter Template

Below is a template for a versatile sponsorship request letter that can be customized for your event.

“SUBJECT”

Partnership/Sponsorship Opportunity for “EVENT NAME”

Dear “RECIPIENT,”

Hello! My name is “YOUR NAME” and I represent “ORGANIZATION NAME” and our exciting upcoming event, “EVENT NAME.”

The event is scheduled for “DAY DATE TIME” and “VENUE.” Our organization is dedicated to “BRIEF STATEMENT OUTLINEING YOUR ORGANIZATION AND ITS PURPOSE.”

The goal of our event is to “BRIEFLY DESCRIBE EVENT PURPOSE.”

We feel your company “COMPANY NAME” would be an exceptional fit as a sponsorship partner for our event. Your sponsorship support can pay dividends in multiple ways. It can help bring about networking opportunities and branding visibility, and it would demonstrate your leadership as a corporate citizen.

We have crafted a number of sponsorship opportunities at various budget points. When your organization partners with us for this event, you will receive various sponsorship benefits. These could include:

• Logo Placement and Visibility on Promotional Materials, Signage, and Within Our Mobile Event App
• Mention and Recognition in Press Releases Prior to, During, and Post Event
• Exclusive Sponsor Access to Our Event Attendees and Social and Networking Events
• Live, Verbal Acknowledgment During Event Opening and Closing Ceremonies and Remarks
• Opportunities to Distribute Printed Materials to Participants Throughout the Event

I am attaching our sponsorship package details that provide further information about each available sponsorship level and the benefits they include.

I look forward to the opportunity to discuss these options with you and to further explore how we can partner for our mutual benefit. I will make myself available to you at your convenience to discuss these options and any other questions you may have.

Thanks for your consideration of this opportunity to support for this important event. Your sponsorship would help solidify the success of our event and your position as a community leader.

I look forward to working with “COMPANY” and making this a positive, memorable event. Please feel free to reply to this email or call me at “CONTACT NUMBER” to discuss our collaboration further.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME/TITLE/POSITION

YOUR ORGANIZATION

ChatGPT Prompts

To assist you in composing a sponsorship request letter that is more specifically tailored to your organization, event, and sponsor, we have included some CHATGPT Prompts below.

These prompts are to serve as examples of how to get started and to serve to inspire your own writing.

• “Suggest 20 companies who may be prospective sponsors for an event organized by ORGANIZATIONS. Please write an email to POTENTIAL SPONSOR to explain YOUR EVENT and why sponsorship opportunities may be valuable.
• We are sponsoring an event at PLACE DATE AND TIME and are seeking like-minded sponsorship partners. Please write an email explaining the event and the benefits of being associated with it.
• Please craft an email to local businesses asking them to help sponsor our event on DAY DATE TIME. Explain some benefits to sponsoring such an event.
• Compile a list of potential sponsors who have a history of supporting events in our field.
• Create a short email introducing our upcoming event to potential sponsors. Mention that we will be sending further details and following up in the coming days.

To improve results, take the time to make sure CHATGPT has details of your organization, its mission and purpose, and the reasons for the event. The more details you can provide about your target audience and how they align with the target market of your potential sponsor, the better your results may be.

Take Your Sponsorship Opportunity to the Next Level

Sponsorships are a powerful way to provide fuel for your next event or fundraiser. Sponsorships are now a part of conventions, conferences, seminars, and charitable events.

If you aren’t fully taking advantage of sponsorship opportunities that may elevate your event, here are some ways to increase this important resource.

Expand Your Horizons

Consider local, regional, and national sponsors. Some local franchises may have access to corporate support to help them participate in your event. Avoid eliminating companies as a prospective sponsor by pre-judging them.

Create Multiple Sponsorship Levels to Appeal to All Types And Sizes of Sponsorship

While there may only be a few potential prospects as a Presenting or Title Sponsor, make sure you have opportunities for smaller companies. Consider all the aspects of your event that can be sponsored. These can include a welcome ceremony, website, raffles, your vendor area, and more.

Explore All Sponsorship Resources

Along with commercial sponsors, include non-profit and educational sponsors on your prospect list. Colleges and universities, medical facilities, and even some government entities have budgets available to sponsor events in their wheelhouse.

Explain Charitable and Marketing Resources

Some organizations have resources to make charitable contributions along with marketing budgets. These two pools may be able to be accessed in a single organization to facilitate a major sponsorship.

Amplify The Value of Your Audience

Sponsorship opportunities are not just about the raw numbers but also the quality of the audience you may be able to deliver. Emphasize the value of those you are reaching, including whether they are well-educated, high-earners or “shakers and movers.” This is particularly important if your audience is otherwise hard to reach through traditional marketing efforts.

Use and Promote Technology

If you have member management software or utilize event planning software, let sponsors know. They will appreciate that you are managing your event through technology and that digital marketing, social media, event communications, and apps are a part of the event.

Elevate Your Member and Event Management Capabilities

Member and event management software helps your organization take full advantage of the data available to you. This includes details surrounding sponsorship efforts. It can help ensure all contacts, comments, and data are kept accessible and organized. It can help build confidence within your organization and with the sponsors who are supporting you.

To learn more about MemberClicks and our software solutions for organizations of all types—start a conversation with us today! Experience firsthand how we can help take your organization to the next level.

The post How to Write an Effective Sponsorship Request Letter appeared first on MemberClicks.

So just how do you attract people to your association, chamber, or nonprofit? By understanding what a member acquisition strategy is, how it works, and the best ways to grow, which is what this guide is all about. Let’s take a look.

What is a member acquisition strategy?

In a nutshell, a member acquisition strategy is a plan to get more people to join your organization. It involves selling your benefits and perks as a meaningful contribution to their lives or goals so that they will exchange those benefits for money. This may come in the form of nonprofit donations or membership dues, for example.

An acquisition strategy is not simply a loose goal for getting people on board. It is a highly detailed, multi-pronged plan for how you will encourage signups through education, communication, and data analysis. That’s why your strategy is so important.

Why are member acquisition strategies important?

The short answer to why acquisition matters is that you must have members if you want your organization to survive. Otherwise, no one is paying to keep the lights on.

The long answer is that such a strategy brings many benefits other than financial. These include:

• A detailed plan that will help you make smart hiring decisions
• Guidelines for how to run your events, online presence, and outreach efforts
• Enhanced credibility stemming from the above
• A better grasp of the budget, be it monthly, quarterly, annual, or long-term
• An understanding of what you need to offer your members so that you can keep them happy (i.e. member retention)

Speaking of retention …

Member acquisition vs member retention

On a final note, member acquisition and member retention are not the same thing. Retention means keeping hold of people you have already brought on board. Retention rates are calculated by looking at how many people stayed with you from the beginning to the end of a certain period (such as a calendar year). Acquisition is how many people come on board in the first place.

You cannot expect to keep hold of every member who comes on board. Many join for a specific but short-term reason. For instance, there’s been a natural disaster to which they want to donate, or they are changing careers and need a temporary boost from a professional organization. However, it’s pretty much guaranteed that your retention rates will be less than 100%.

Thus, in a growing organization, your acquisition rates will need to make up for the lost members. That’s why a good strategy matters so much.

Before you start new strategies

Now, before you jump into your member acquisition plan, it’s important to lay a good foundation. Otherwise, you may find yourself following a strategy that doesn’t actually move the needle. Here are a few FYIs for the planning stages.

Know your ideal member (target audience)

Understanding your target audience and creating a picture of your ideal member is critical to effective member acquisition. If you don’t know whom you want to bring on board, then you won’t know how to attract them.

To figure this out, many organizations create one or several profiles of their ideal members. They ask questions such as:

• Where do they live?
• What do they do for a living?
• How old are they?
• Are there other important sociodemographic characteristics?
• What do they care about?
• What are their pain points?

Answering these questions will help you understand who you’re gearing your messaging towards. It will also help to ask yourself how being a part of your organization will help them in the long-term. What can you do to ensure that once the immediate pain point has been addressed or the need has been met, they will stay with you?

Make sure your purpose is clear

Before you can begin to put granular member acquisition strategies in place, you need an easily understandable purpose. For instance, let’s say you help low-income, single mothers find childcare services in your area. To clarify your purpose, you must again ask and answer questions such as:

• Whom do you help?
• What’s the income threshold, if there is one?
• What kinds of services do you help find or coordinate?
• How long does your assistance last?
• What benefits will members get?

Remember, in the case of a nonprofit, your members usually aren’t the people you’re serving. So while the single mothers are being helped, you need to create benefits for the people who donate. Those can include feel-good stories, attending an annual banquet, or putting volunteering on their resume.

For a professional organization or chamber, the benefits are usually much more straightforward: classes, workshops, gated content, events, and so forth.

Interview current members

Another step to take before embarking on a member acquisition plan is to interview current members. Wherever possible, your ideal member profile should come from real life: a person your organization has actually helped in the past or present.

It’s helpful to know what makes people happy, of course, but it’s also useful to find out what they’re less thrilled about. If you can manage to snag exit interviews with folks who are leaving, so much the better. Either way, set up regular interviews so you don’t risk getting out of touch.

Set promo calendar

Aligning your member acquisition strategy with seasons, celebrations, and preset activities through your nonprofit is a good idea. That way, your promo calendar is already there to help direct your strategy from the get-go.

10 member acquisition strategies

Once you’ve identified your purpose and ideal member, taken stock of what current members think, and set your promo calendar, it’s time to put your acquisition strategy in place. Here are 10 steps that will help you do just that.

Strategy 1: Build an email list

Emails are worth their weight in gold. (Metaphorical gold, at least, since an email address doesn’t actually weigh anything.) The most important thing about an email address is that it offers you unfettered access to your members or donors.

Why is this so important? Because you may or may not be able to reach them on social media, depending on the whims of whatever algorithm is at work. Your website is a great place for them to gather information, but you cannot reach out to them through it. Direct mail does work, but it’s a slower form of communication. The only way you can get in touch with people directly and digitally is email (or in some cases, SMS).

Now, it’s not true that if you build it, they will come. Simply by starting a list, you do not guarantee an uptick in membership. However, as you add each new member, you add a way to keep in touch with them, a thread between them and you. The following strategies all in some way interconnect with email, so do this first.

Setting up an email list is pretty simple. Choose an online message service or simply build your own database, assuming you have the money and know-how to do so. Then as emails come in, add them to your list. You can choose to send newsletters or not, but you must start building the list itself now.

Strategy 2: Create an online presence

Once you’ve got your email list in place, start building your online presence, if you haven’t already. Build a website and start a social media channel or two. Whenever you set up an online outlet, make sure there are options for people to sign up to your list: newsletter signups on your site, then link to those signups from social media.

The next step in member acquisition is to create content with which people will want to engage. This can take an almost limitless number of forms, such as:

• Blog posts
• Articles and whitepapers
• Social media posts
• Video marketing
• Podcasts
• eBooks
• Interviews
• Infographics
• Listicles
• Photograph galleries
• Testimonials
• Webcasts and webinars
• Interactive content
• Free online training
• Content libraries

… and more. The type of content is less important than whether or not it has real value to potential members (and current members). If it is useful, then people will want to stick around and use it, and will even be willing to pay for access to it or donate to keep it going.

Strategy 3: Understand SEO best practices

SEO stands for search engine optimization and is pretty much what it sounds like: optimizing your content to give it the best chance of being pulled up in search. Today’s SEO strategies aren’t as obvious as they used to be, and you can get penalized for trying to game the system or even behaving like a bad actor unintentionally.

It helps to do your research or use a content creator who can help you. But the main takeaway here is that your content should be high-quality, well-researched, and intuitively structured for human readers.

You should also use clear metadata to tell web crawlers what your content is about. Make sure the metadata is genuinely tied to the content, because trying to fake out the bots will result in penalties or even de-indexing (getting your site removed from search results). Above all, be true to your topic and your cause.

Strategy 4: Build relationships and seek input

Relationships matter. A lot. Creating strong bonds between your organization and the people you serve is the best way to build a robustly positive reputation, encourage word-of-mouth signups, and weather the occasional PR storm that will arise if you’re around long enough.

There are many ways to build relationships, including guest spots on podcasts, speaking engagements, thought leadership articles on other blogs or websites, and going to networking events. Any time you can help someone else (e.g. by giving them a free piece of content that also highlights your expertise), you are both building relationships and getting free marketing.

As you move forward with your member acquisition, get input wherever you can. This will help you realign your strategy if one approach goes off the rails. Asking people what upsets them and makes them happy is also a great way to build trust, because they feel as though their opinion matters.

Strategy 5: Create signup bonuses

Bonuses also encourage membership signups. Offering discounts, free courses, professional education, or download bundles are all appealing to prospects.

Strategy 6: Offer free trials

One of the main sticking points with member acquisition is that people are wary of spending money. Even reasonable membership fees are off-putting given tight budgets and booming inflation.

Luckily, you can fix this by offering free trials. This is a powerful member engagement strategy because it allows people to try your services without risk. Because they usually have to give a credit card, this also works for you. They have already overcome the part of the process that involves the biggest resistance, while feeling confident that they can get out of it if needed.

Strategy 7: Host events

Events are a great way to bring in members. Sought-after speakers and musicians are a huge draw, and if the only way to see them is to sign up, that can be effective for member acquisition. Offering discounts on event tickets is a time-honored member acquisition strategy, helping people save money.

Strategy 8: Test and validate

Each time you use a new strategy, test it first. Send emails out to smaller groups and assess their effectiveness. Show new websites to test groups. Make sure that signup sites work as intended. That way you don’t lose people without meaning to.

Strategy 9: Use data to drive decisions

It is tempting when building a member acquisition strategy to add items to the list on a “that looks pretty good” basis. However, this is a good way to lose money. Instead, use data.

The best place to find data on what works for your organization is from your own organization. Which campaigns have been successful? Which events drew the largest attendance? In what benefits are people most interested? Using this information, build new strategies that capitalize on what has already worked.

If you’re too new for this strategy to be of much use, research competitors to see what they do. As time goes on, you can adjust.

Strategy 10: Make signups easy and painless

In order to further smooth your member acquisition strategy, make sure signups are always easy and painless. If people have to work hard to donate to your cause or join your organization, chances are good they’ll look elsewhere … and there is always somewhere else to look, so you don’t want to take this risk.

To accomplish this, make sure signups are obvious everywhere on your site. Link to them clearly in social media bios and, if you can, put links in your guest content as well. Keep the information you request to only what you need. Perhaps it’s tempting to gather every last piece of contact information, but that can also be a turnoff.

If you can, tie signups to bonuses. Discounts, free tickets, gated content or courses, or anything else for which they have to “pay” with an email are great incentives for signing up. Also, make sure to distinguish between simply signing up for an email list and actually joining on a member or donor basis. If you’re going to ask for a credit card, the benefits need to be very obvious!

Key takeaways

Here’s a quick rundown of the key takeaways in this article, the better to hit the ground running with your acquisition efforts:

• A member acquisition strategy is a game plan that helps you convince people that your benefits are worthwhile so that they will sign up.
• Member acquisition means bringing people on board, while member retention means keeping them there. Acquisition must make up for the fact that retention will always be less than 100%.
• It’s critical to develop an ideal member profile so you know toward whom your strategy is geared.
• Maintaining a solid digital presence – through email, online spaces, and SEO – is a foundational step in an all-around great member acquisition strategy.
• Make joining your nonprofit, chamber, or professional association a no-brainer through free trials, signup bonuses, event discounts, and easy signups.
• Using a simplified online member portal makes signups easy and painless. It also encourages a sense of community, which will increase your chances of retaining members over the long haul.

We are here to help

If you’re ready to get your member acquisition strategy going, then the first thing you need to do is figure out where your online home base will be. It’s important to give people a place where they can check in on their benefits, keep up to date on community events, and read the news of the day.

MemberClicks is here to help you do just that. Our software helps you streamline processes, save money, reduce staff time, and please your members all at once. Whether you’re a chamber, nonprofit, professional association, or any other type of organization, we welcome you to our platform. All you have to do is get in touch to learn more.

The post 10 Member Acquisition Strategies to Grow your Organization  appeared first on MemberClicks.

If you are interested in how to start a Chamber of Commerce, we will walk you through the 10 important steps you need to know. From understanding the purpose and benefits to creating a supportive network that fosters economic growth and community development, you’ll find everything you need to get started. Plus, discover how MemberClicks Trade can simplify the process.

What is a Chamber of Commerce?

Many people mistakenly believe that a Chamber of Commerce is a public entity run by the local government. They’re actually member-run organizations that allow local businesses to work together to advance their mutual interests.

A Chamber of Commerce is a nonprofit founded and run by members of a local business community. It provides a forum where local business owners can network with one another and promote their enterprises to the community at large. The chamber can also be a tool for businesses to bring their concerns to local government and foster a business-friendly environment.

What Does a Chamber of Commerce Do?

A Chamber of Commerce does a lot of things to help local businesses and the community. Some of a chamber’s most important functions and benefits include:

• Serving as a voice for local businesses. Business owners can work together to have their concerns heard by local government.
• Offering networking opportunities. Members can find vendors and partners, and learn from other members at events like speaker series.
• Promoting members and their businesses. A listing in the member directory can get members exposure and new business.

Many chambers use a combination of meet-ups, online groups, speaker events, and lobbying to attain their goals.

What Are the Objectives of a Chamber?

A chamber’s objectives are to promote the collective goals of businesses in the area. The private sector works differently than government sectors, and needs structures like chambers to advance its interests.

Objectives can include education, representation, and promotion and support of local businesses.

Who Are Chamber Members?

Anyone who operates, works for, or is passionate about the interests of local businesses can join. Your members can include:

• Small business owners.
• Representatives from larger corporations who want to maintain a local presence.
• Local individuals.
• Representatives from non-profit entities.

Reach out to anyone who you feel could benefit from a local chamber and anyone who you feel can make a contribution.

Who Leads a Chamber?

Chambers typically are run by a board of directors who work together. At the head will be a leader elected by local chamber members. The title can vary based on the preferences of the group. Director, President, or Chief are all common.

Types of Chambers of Commerce

There are four types of Chambers of Commerce, each with their own role to play. These organizations work together and with their communities to promote the interests of businesses.

Regional, City, and Community Chambers

It all starts with your local chamber. At the town or city level, you will find business owners and other participants who have a deep understanding of your area’s specific characteristics and needs.

Regional chambers work together with local chambers to address issues that cross city and county lines. When you are getting a local or city chamber off the ground, reach out to your regional Chamber of Commerce. It is likely they have resources and volunteers available who can help you with any questions.

State Chambers

As the founder of a local or regional Chamber of Commerce, you’ll work with your state-level chamber. This group works to attract new businesses to your state and to influence policy at a state level.

At the time of this writing, every state but Rhode Island and Massachusetts has a state-level Chamber of Commerce. Even the above two states have organizations at the regional and local level. Network with chambers at each level to combine your voice and to access development and educational opportunities for your members.

National or International Chambers

At the next level, you have your national chamber of commerce. In the US, this is the US Chamber of Commerce. Other countries have their own national organizations. While most function as private entities that individuals and businesses can choose to join, a few countries require Chamber of Commerce membership in order to do business.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) represents over 45 million members in more than 100 countries. The ICC offers professional development, dispute resolution, and helps businesses work together in a digital and connected landscape.

10 Steps to Start Your Chamber of Commerce

Chambers of Commerce have a long, rich history you can draw on when starting your own local or regional chapter. The first chamber of commerce was founded in 1599 to serve business interests in France. Chamber of Commerce activity on American soil predates the establishment of the US, with the first chamber established in New York in 1768.

Because of this, there are many organizations whose experience you can use. We’ve distilled instructions into 10 simple steps you can follow to get your chamber up and running.

1. Make Sure There’s a Need for It

Start by making sure your area doesn’t already have a chamber. The US Chamber of Commerce maintains a list of local, regional, and state Chambers. You can also do a local search to see if there is one in your area that hasn’t made it onto the national list.

If one doesn’t exist or your local chamber has gone inactive, you have an opportunity to create one for your community. Start talking to other business owners. If enough people are interested, your area could benefit from a Chamber of Commerce.

Not sure where to start? Meet up with other business owners at networking events and ask their opinions. You can also chat in locally-focused groups on social media. And don’t underestimate the value of in-person contacts. Go to local businesses and talk to owners about their interests and what they feel a local chamber could do for them.

It might take some time to get the word out and get people interested in forming a chamber. Be persistent and continue to do outreach until you’ve established an active group of concerned and interested individuals.

2. Connect with other people who are passionate about the local business community.

Business owners and community members can work together to start forming a board for your proposed Chamber of Commerce. Once you’ve determined there is enough interest to get started, start collecting contacts.

You probably already know people who can help you start a Chamber of Commerce in your community. Business to business clients, your vendors, and people who you have met at networking events may all be interested.

Interested individuals and business owners can meet informally while you are in the organizing phase. Regular meet-ups can keep up the momentum. Once you have identified people willing to contribute to the project, you can meet more formally to start putting all the pieces into place.

Don’t just focus on small businesses. Many larger corporations participate in the Chamber of Commerce in cities where they have offices. These large corporate members have resources that smaller businesses do not. They, in turn, benefit from the intimate knowledge smaller business owners have of a local environment. Together, these characteristics make them excellent allies.

This is also a chance to start scouting people for leadership roles. In addition to the director, you will also need board members and other officials. Joining the boat of a chamber is a great way for local entrepreneurs and business owners to give back. Plus, you get the recognition that comes from having an important role in a local organization. This can be a big benefit when building a reputation in your local business world, and beyond.

3. Create a Mission Statement

You have a lot of leeway when it comes to your mission statement. Sarasota County’s Chamber of Commerce sums theirs up in a single phrase: To promote and encourage business prosperity and to enhance economic development through advocacy, engagement and cooperation.

Other chambers incorporate sections outlining their vision and their core values.

What do you want to accomplish? Articulate your goals in a mission statement to keep your vision for your chamber clear.

The mission statement is a guide you can return to when deciding what activities to pursue and focusing on those that advance the chamber’s mission.

It is okay to revisit, update, and expand your mission statement as you continue to build your organization.

4. Create Bylaws

Your bylaws are an agreement between members on how the Chamber will function and what the roles and responsibilities of members will be. Your bylaws should lay out the purpose of the chamber, its goals, eligibility for membership, and expected behavior. The US Chamber of Commerce has sample bylaws you can use as a reference when drafting rules for your local organization.

The bylaws are also a place to clearly set policies. For instance, how long a grace period do you want to give members who are behind on their dues? How do you want to handle voting on issues that affect the chamber? What is your orientation process, and how often should it be available?

Your bylaws can answer all these questions and provide guidelines for ongoing operation of your local chamber.

5. Create a Business Plan

Even though a chamber is not a business per se, you still need a business plan. This plan should include your expected costs, activities, and your potential sources of revenue.

For instance, most chambers will need to rent space for their operations and pay utilities. Your sources of revenue can include member dues, merchandise, and fees for events and classes.

The business plan allows you to ensure you understand the resources you have at your disposal and what you’ll need to keep your chamber active and vibrant.

6. Handle the Chamber’s Finances

How you set up your finances at the start will play a strong role in your chamber’s ongoing success.

Start by identifying revenue sources and deciding how these funds will be spent. As mentioned before, you’ll typically need to pay for a space to operate and utilities. If you anticipate having full-time administrative staff, their salaries will need to be paid out of income, as well. Other potential costs include insurance, travel expenses, and office supplies.

By deciding how finances will be handled and who is responsible, you can keep everything clean and simple and avoid potential issues.

Experts recommend revisiting your finances at least once a year. You can see what is working and what needs to be revamped. You can also take these opportunities to expand your capabilities. For instance, if you have been cobbling together payments through email, phone conversations, and checks delivered by postal mail, you can use an organization management tool to bring your payment structure online.

7. File for incorporation 501 (c)(6).

This is a step you should not skip. This nonprofit status offers federal tax exemption and other benefits for your organization.

To file for 501(c)(6) status, you’ll need to complete IRS Form 1024 and submit it with the relevant fees. You’ll need an Employer Identification Number (EIN), as well as documentation on your officers, your organization’s activities, financial information, and information about your affiliations with other organizations.

8. Decide on a Membership Fee Structure

How much will you charge for admission to the chamber? Will you offer different membership levels? Many chambers opt to offer individual, small business and corporate member levels. Some have regular dues while others charge a one-time fee for basic membership and additional fees for add-ons.

You’ll also need to decide how often membership fees are collected. Some groups do annual dues, others collect monthly or quarterly.

Set up methods for paying dues so that everyone can participate. The easier it is for people to pay their dues, the more likely it is that people will continue to keep up their memberships. A good member management program can handle digital payment options for you. This way, people can pay their dues online at their convenience.

9. Integrate Robust Membership Management Software to Streamline Operations

You can run a Chamber of Commerce using paper records, spreadsheets, email and other scattered options. But, your administrative and organizational tasks will be a lot easier to manage with the right membership management suite.

MemberClicks Trade offers a one-stop solution for chambers of commerce and other trade organizations. This software allows you to streamline your onboarding process, manage membership dues, and handle chamber member communications with ease.

If you are interested in launching a Chamber of Commerce, it is likely you already have pressing business concerns and responsibilities to handle. Make starting and operating your chamber as easy as possible by handling duties through quality membership software. This means less time spent on administrative duties and more to dedicate to the actions that will benefit your membership the most.

10. Start Publicizing and Marketing your Chamber of Commerce

The more people know about your chamber, the more robust and engaged your members will be. This starts with a website where people can learn about the chamber and start their own membership.

Social media pages can help get the word out about the chamber itself and your organization’s activities. Don’t spread yourself too thin by joining every single platform. Focus on a couple, such as LinkedIn and Facebook, so you can pay enough attention to your presence there.

Reach out to the press. Create press releases about your launch, your members, and any events you are hosting.

Begin hosting events as early as possible. At the beginning, these can start with informal lunches or coffee meet-ups for interested individuals. Meet regularly to begin building relationships. Over time, your chamber can host bigger, more elaborate events. These can offer great educational and networking opportunities while also serving to promote your chamber.

Marketing and promotion require regular communication. Create a calendar and update everyone regularly to help spread the word about the great things your chamber is doing in your community.

Quality member management software can give you the ability to send out emails to your membership with the click of a button. Your members and interested parties can keep up to date on your chamber’s activities to better understand how their chamber is serving them.

Summing Up

Creating an organization from the ground up is a huge undertaking. Draw on the experience of other chambers and the talents of your community to make it all come together. Break the work down into simple, discrete steps and work over time to establish your local chamber.

Once you have formally created your organization, you can focus on the events, activities and networking relationships that will make your Chamber of Commerce a success.

MemberClicks Trade Makes It Easy

You don’t have to go it alone. MemberClicks Trade is a game changer for Chambers of Commerce and other trade organizations. MC Trade allows you to automate tasks and organize data to save you and your board time.

Ready to see how our software can help you get your Chamber of Commerce established and running smoothly? Book a free demo today. We can show you the transformative power MemberClicks Trade brings to organizations like yours.

The post 10 Steps to Start a Chamber of Commerce  appeared first on MemberClicks.