Organisations with membership programs should pay more attention to how they manage their members. Remember that the said members are the life-blood of your organisation, and they even go to the extent of funding your operation. Thus, you need to deal with members more carefully to keep their loyal support. Membership management is no simple task, but with effective strategies like the ones below, you can keep them engaged, involved, and feeling valued.
Invest in membership management software
Depending on the membership program’s needs and wants, choose a member management solution that can automate and streamline important tasks. Determine the features you can’t live without, ones that would be nice to have, and ones you won’t need. For non-profit organisations like yours, you need some features like member directory, donations tracking, event management, renewal reminders, built-in email marketing, and reports that you would be useful in managing your members. Take some time to evaluate your needs and wants to get the right software for your organisation.
Provide various involvement opportunities
To encourage your members to renew their membership, they need to get involved in the organisation. Sending a monthly newsletter is a good start, but you have to go beyond that to make your members feel connected. There are various ways to engage your members. You might want to consider holding member appreciation events to thank them. Thanking your members make them feel important, so it’s one strategy to keep them engaged. Another option is to provide volunteer opportunities since your members likely joined you because they care about your cause. The goal is to keep them involved, so regularly provide your members of these opportunities.
Tailor-fit your communication method
Get personalised with your communication services. Gone are the days that you send a cookie-cutter template to every member. Now, you have to connect on a personal level so your members would feel valued in the organisation. And this can be done with the help of a member management software. With the available member data stored in the software, you can approach members thru their preferred communication channel. There’s no need to waste your effort sending emails to members who never check their inboxes. You can also automate renewal reminders so you won’t blindly send renewal messages to every member. More importantly, you can send membership welcome packs on time to new and renewing members thanks to the information available in your software.
Leverage your data with customised reports
How will you know if your member engagement efforts are paying off? Use your member management software to create customised reports. Reports help you visualise the success of your campaigns, and they give you valuable insights on how you should alter your methods. With customised reports, you will learn which engagement campaigns, projects, and events are working, and which of them fall short. Thru these reports, you’ll know which members to engage, and which method you should leverage on to keep your members involved. It’s one great tool to manage your members effectively. If you’re struggling to manage members of your organisation, these strategies should help you keep them engaged, involved, and feeling valued. When you take care of your members properly, you can expect their loyalty and support in return. Hence, you should pay more attention to how you treat them, online and in person.
