Defining "Membership Growth"

In the past few weeks I have had a number of conversations with some good friends and colleagues where they used the phrase “membership growth” but in each case their definition differed.  Essential for any association, and almost always a key factor in their strategic plan, a clear understanding of what you mean by “membership growth” is needed to truly measure if the efforts you are making match the results you seek – so here are a few definitions that may apply to what you are trying to do:

Traditional Definitions

      New Member Count Increase – You have succeeded in attracting new members to your organization – congratulations!  Key to this growth is an understanding of WHY they joined – a particular product?  A connection with a component?  A fellow professional encouraging them to do so?  Their employer requiring membership?  Tracking the reason for joining will let you hone your recruitment techniques to connect with the right professionals in the right way.

        Specific Segment Count Increase – In my world this has recently been that our count of global members has grown as opposed to domestic.  Depending on the focus of your organization, these could be segmented by geography, experience in industry (student, young professional, retired, etc), investment in organization (prospect, customer, custom member, full member), etc. 

       Increase in Renewal Numbers – Your organization is retaining a higher percentage of members, resulting in month over month/year over year longer affiliation with your organization.   Particularly when calculating the lifetime value of a member, the longer their affiliation the bigger bottom line return your association will see.

    

        Total Member Count Increase – Most often the addition of numbers 1+3 above – and also most often the bottom line the Board wants to see.  This is an increase in the total count of members affiliated with your organization.

Less Traditional Definitions

       Member Engagement – Are more members taking advantage of the value engagement opportunities that you present?  Are they getting more involved?  Is there an increase in conference attendance, resource utilization and feedback on your current offerings?  Perhaps an increase in member engagement means greater dialogue – members commenting of private and public social media platforms, participating in surveys and research or achieving your certifications.  Any of these factors could be considered membership growth.

     Volunteer Participation – Though I have only heard it used this way once or twice, an increase in the number of volunteers and/or growth in the tasks they accomplish may indicate a growth in membership as well.  Particularly for organizations where there is a strong reliance on volunteer efforts for membership drives and localized value and programming, this may be a key factor in the expansion of the association.

If your organization has a definition of membership growth I have missed, please add it to the comments below.

At different moments, with varying stakeholders, the definition you intend for my ‘membership growth’ may not be the same one that others are picturing.  While in general ‘membership growth’ is a yay factor, it is key to know what you are celebrating!

Get Rid of the Volunteer Cliff

Associations need volunteers.  We rely on our volunteers for strategic insight, strategy and direction.  Our volunteers become our subject matter experts, serving as guides and gurus for one another under the association framework.  Through our volunteers we benefit from local or specialized groups and programming.  For every organization there is a path of growth and recognition, however formal, that a volunteer travels.  Their journey may start from handing out name badges, and in a number of years they may end up on the Board of Directors.   These paths are neither constant nor pre-established, but they exist and we rely on them to drive our organizations forward just as much as we look to the bottom line on the financial returns to be ever growing.

The primary focus for most associations is to feed the pool of volunteers.  As organizations expand there is an ever enlarging demand to fulfill the number of responsibilities to make everything run.  Recruiting new volunteers, avoiding volunteer burnout, creating a volunteer acceleration curve – these are all primary foci of associations.  Yet, instead of creating a volunteer path I believe too often we create a volunteer cliff.

A volunteer has given to you organization – they have climbed the proverbial volunteer ladder and reached the pinnacle – be it the association BOD or their own local chapter presidency – I ask, what next?  Too often we make the assumption that there are lifetime diehards who are so committed to the association that without a next step they will find their own next step of involvement.  I believe this is taking for granted one of our most valuable resources.

We all know volunteers basically work a part time job in the time they commit to our organizations – for no pay.  If we can not help them realize what options they have to continue that volunteer growth, then we risk losing their knowledge, passion and enthusiasm for the very things that make our associations great.  So they have been Chair of the BOD – even Past Chair – what next?  Do you have a suggested path they should follow?  Options for how they can continue to contribute that are portrayed in a manner that does not seem to be a step backwards?

I believe this is one of our neglected groups of volunteers – the PVIPS (Post VIP’s) – they have had the limelight, influenced the direction of the organization – locally or globally – and have been ‘put out to pasture.’  If you do not have specific ways they can stay involved, then the assumption that they will is false.   Here are just a few options:

1.       Mentorship: for next gen leaders, for those entering the profession, for forming ‘clubs’ of past presidents, vp’s, treasurers, etc – how can these leaders take their hands-on knowledge and serve as mentors to those that come next and beyond

2.      

      Advisorships: Rather than mentoring a person, what if these leaders still had the option to submit feedback on the strategic direction and initiatives of the organization?  The BOD would have a knowledgeable source to rely upon for perspective.

3.      

      Implementation:  Neither the BOD nor the staff can do everything – and we should not expect them to do so.  After identifying strategic initiatives and creating task forces, etc – what if these leaders stepped into roles of direction and implementation – something nature to their past leadership experience

Of course there are more options – but in whatever path(s) you establish, to forget about your FIBS (Former Important Big Shots as used in my org – yes, they have ribbons) is to let go of one of your most valuable resources.  Our long standing volunteers deserve thanks, recognition, and assistance in understanding how they can continue to contribute and lead.  That path divination is in many ways up to us.

Life After CAE

Only now, over two weeks after taking the CAE, as I sit outside a café in Amsterdam on a layover, do I finally feel like life is returning to some sense of normalcy.  For someone who reluctantly started a blog in the first place, there has been a small something missing inside of me as the weeks have rolled by and I have not posted.  As I started my CAE journey in January my friends who had just taken it assured me that my life would be very different in the coming months.  While they were right, I am not sure they knew just how encompassing that statement would be.

First, the obvious.  For the last 2-3 months before the CAE, I had no life.  No, really - between work, CAE studying and family time there were no empty slots in my schedule.  Past times such as reading for pleasure, blog writing, and….oh, I don’t know – spending time with friends were shelved.  There was so much to read, so much to discuss.  There were times where my experience served me well in preparing me for CAE scenarios.  And then there were those domains that the more I learned, the more I found out I did not know.  By the time the day of the test arrived, I at least felt like there really was no more I could have done to prepare myself for the exam.  Three hours (and 5 minutes) later, I walked out – slightly numb, definitely in a daze and in a state of disbelief that it was over.

Did I pass?  I have heard of people who have walked out of the exam confident they passed with flying colors who fail, and others who walk out lamenting that they got the most basic questions wrong who pass.  Me?  I think I did ok, came up short and will have to retake it.  6 more weeks upon writing to find out – and also not the point of this post.

So what have the two weeks, reentry into life period been like you ask?  I had a book waiting on my nightstand that took me under a day to devour (a bookworm, I am usually reading 2-3 books at a time – to only read CAE books was probably one of the greatest challenges).  Slowly I have been able to find the time to call and reconnect with old friends.  In my four and a half months of studying I missed new babies and jobs, a wedding and a separation, a lot of birthdays (just wasn’t on facebook everyday to remind me) and who knows what else.  I have yet to tackle my Google Reader, which haunts me with the number of well over 1,000 posts waiting to be read that  I know I should just hit “Mark all as read” but am pre-remorseful over the missed insights.  Exercise, better eating, sleep – they are all leveling back out.

So if it is all returning to the way it was, what has changed?  In short, me.  I am confident that I would like to become a CEO of an association someday.  While there are many paths that people take to achieve this position, I can not imagine aspiring to this goal without the knowledge that I have gained.  My studies for the CAE have given me insight into aspects of the association world that, simply, never crossed my mind before.  Now when I hear about an affinity program I think UBIT.  When before I saw exclusivity agreements in discussion I never realized the possible connect to anti-trust risks.  Though I may not be an expert in every area, I feel as though I have a working knowledge of most and am clear on where I need to really continue to concentrate my educational development.

But here’s the thing – even if I don’t pass the CAE (in which case I hope I will the second time), I am a better association professional for the experience.  This is not something that should only be for those aspiring to C-level positions.  In my review there were a number of times that I said – if I had known this, then the actions I took as a specialist/manager/director would have been different.  CAE preparation is not about a test – it is about knowing your profession so you can act from a knowledgeable and reliable standpoint.

I no longer look at our association world, or the nonprofit world in general, the same.  I have a greater appreciation for the complexities that must be constantly balanced for fairness, legality and success.  Though it has only been a few months, I feel older (or maybe the CAE just gave me more grey hair) – but in a good way.  And all of that is tempered with an excitement for how much more there is to discover and know.  I know that this has just been one step in my journey….but it has been

a defining one.

It feels good to be back.  It feels good to write again (never thought I would say that).  Sorry I was gone so long – but I hope my time away will lead to a greater level of insight in my posts.