There are two camps when it comes to identifying the best membership prospects for an association: - Those who believe that you should determine who you are not appealing to - and then go after them. - Those who believe that you should determine who fits the profile of your current members - and go after more of the same. Good arguments can be developed on both sides. Certainly, bringing in fresh blood can add a new, dynamic element to the association. Moreover, it can open new possibilities for the future direction of the association. On the other hand, getting "more of the same" tends to leverage the existing strengths of the association. Here is a simple rule of thumb. If you are only scratching the surface of your targeted association membership (e.g. you only have 15% of the possible candidates), you'll likely find better results by going after more of the same. Conversely, if you are closing in on the upper limit of a target audience, it may be time to consider expanding your association membership prospect base. The rationale is fairly simple: it's easier to get more of the same. Unless you've exhausted most of that audience, you shouldn't spread the association's resources too thinly by chasing too many groups. Where does your association stand with regard to tapping most or all of your current target audience? |
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Which is more important to your trade association or membership organization: recruitment of new members or retention of existing members?
Recruitment of new members seems to get all of the attention and budget. It's easy to understand why. Recruitment is exciting and can be a great cause for celebration - it's fun to see those new member numbers grow. But for the long-term health of your association or membership organization, retention deserves more of your focus.
Here are three reasons why retention is more important than recruitment for your association or membership organization:
1. If you get retention right, you will have built the basis for recruitment. High retention rates are the signal that you have happy, satisfied members. And happy, satisfied members tend to share the association story with others, automatically creating a grassroots recruitment campaign.
2. The old saying, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" is certainly true for associations and membership organizations. It's true not only because it takes less effort to keep a member than find a new member, but because it is less expensive to retain a member than recruit a new member.
3. Most importantly, if you have a low retention rate, it is a signal that you have serious underlying problems in your association or membership organization. Recruitment of members is primarily a function of great marketing. But member retention is a function of both marketing, and more importantly, a great membership experience. If you can't keep your members, then you are wasting money recruiting them until you fix the association.
The bottom line is that recruitment is important for your association or membership organization. But retention must be your first priority. Get retention right - then move on to recruitment.
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