This document discusses strategies for membership marketing and retention. It emphasizes measuring key membership metrics like renewal rates. It suggests calculating lifetime value and maximum acquisition cost to understand the financial impact of members. The document recommends understanding the environment, examining what is critical to members, and making marketing personal and targeted. It also suggests continuing renewal efforts and providing longer grace periods to boost renewal rates above 80%.

1. Marketing Membership in Good Times & Bad

2. Erik Schonher Vice President Marketing General Inc.

3. Membership Marketing is a Strategic Issue Secure Your Budget If you can’t measure it, don’t do it.

4. Know Your Numbers Total Current Members Current Year New Members Conversion Yr 2 + Renewals Total Renewals

5. Membership Dashboard

6. Then You Can Calculate Average Tenure 1/Reciprocal of Renewal Rate 1/.15 = 6.66 years Lifetime Value (LTV) Dues + Non-dues Revenue X Average Tenure ($200 + $150) X 6.66 = $2,331 Maximum Acquisition Cost (MAC) (Dues + Non-dues Revenue) – (Incremental Servicing Costs + Cost of Goods Sold) X Tenure ($200 + $150) – ($20 + $50) X 6.66 = $1,864.80

7. Good News/Bad News Bad News : Greater scrutiny on value proposition Good News : Associations are ‘Career Insurance’ Increased investment in education Increased self-evaluation Understand Your Environment

8. Examine What is Critical to Your Membership and Deliver it with a Passion

9. Understand Your Environment

10. Understand Your Environment Over 55%+

11. Understand Your Environment Understand What’s Going on with Other Associations?

12. Understand Your Environment

13. Understand Your Environment What TOOLS seem to be working?

14. Understand Your Environment

15. Summary of Channels and Key Uses Media Key Uses Pros Cons Direct Mail Member Acquisition Member Retention Product/Pgm Promotions Member Communications Measurable Personalized Targeted Versatile Established Metrics 6 Wk Turnaround Long Response Time Substantial Front-end E-Mail Member Communications Awareness Support Member Acquisition Member Retention Measurable Personalized Targeted Versatile Low Front-end Cost Short Turnaround Quick Response Time Limited Metrics Established Internet Product/Program Promotions Awareness Measurable Personalized Targeted Versatile Low Front-end Cost Short Turnaround Limited Metrics Established Telephone Member Acquisition Member Retention Product/Pgm Promotions Quick Response Time Versatile Established metrics Measurable Substantial Front-end Substantial Pre-time Face-to-Face Member Communications Awareness Support Member Acquisition Member Retention Measurable Personalized Targeted Versatile Costly

16. Make it Personal

17. Make it Personal American Association of Justice created a Member Evangelist program Member to new -member follow up calls Associated General Contractors started the Associates Council Members personally deliver new member packets Members call new members to invite them to functions

18. Make it Personal Urban Land Institute instituted the Member Relief and Retention Program MGI is sponsoring the attendance of unemployed association professionals to association events.

19. Special Offers

20. Special Offers Charleston Trident Association of Realtors waived membership application fees during the final months of 2008. National Institute of Government Purchasing is offering an “…extended, time-bound complimentary membership for those between jobs.”

22. Don’t Give Up In Your Renewal Marketing In the survey, we asked “when does your organization finish renewal efforts” by months from expiration. We then cross tabulated this against their reported membership renewal rates. The data appears to indicate that organizations that stop their renewal process earlier are more likely to have membership renewal rates under 80%. However, those that continue in their efforts to renew members are more likely to have membership renewal rates over 80%. In fact, those who say that they “don’t stop contact” are 83% more likely to be in this higher renewal grouping than those who stop contact earlier.

23. Don’t Give Up In Your Renewal Marketing

24. Don’t Give Up In Your Renewal Marketing

25. Don’t Give Up In Your Renewal Marketing This trend also appears to be true when we asked in the survey how long a member is “graced” with the continuance of membership benefits after expiration. Organizations with longer grace periods tended to report renewal rates of over 80%. In fact, groups that grace member benefits three or more months are nearly three times more likely to have renewal rates over 80%.

26. Don’t Give Up In Your Renewal Marketing

27. Thank you Erik Schonher Vice President 703.706.0358 [email_address]