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Membership Management

Setting Goals for Your Association

MemberClicks Avatar MemberClicks October 14, 2014
Table of Contents
2 min read

It’s officially 4th quarter. You have a ton of stuff to get busy doing, especially that budgeting. While you’re working on forming next year’s budget and reviewing last year’s, why not give some thought to other association goals? 

 

Let’s walk through some common ones and ways to break them down and make them achievable. 

Boost membership

Every association out there wants more members. We all know the benefits to an increased membership. Some ways to increase your numbers are to incentivize membership referrals for standing members, increase membership marketing, more widely promote events and vary the type of events.

Get more money

That’s right up there with most people’s personal goals for 2015. More money means a lot more possibilities for many associations. One way association make more money is to increase membership (see goal #1) but some other ways are: upping event attendance and seeking out donors. Also consider increasing dues or event fees, but keep in mind these price increases may be the catalyst for some members to find your association too expensive, then leave. 

Up more member engagement

Engaged members are happy and active members, which means more volunteers and more ambassadors recruiting for your association. Some ways you can up member engagement include broadening your events to appeal to a wider audience for members and potential members and linking up online through your AMS and social media. 

Here are some slightly atypical goals you can set for 2015: 

Establish clear priorities

When your members, committees, or board are faced with several things to consider, make it clear which ones are most important and require attention right away. This seems obvious, but for many associations which have many important thing to take care of, this is an overlooked step. Start by establishing what you believe to be the most important priority for the association then consult the board, your staffers, and some crucial members. 

Acknowledge victories as well as defeats

Many leaders have a kind of tunnel vision when it comes to goals. Sometimes the focus can be so directed that association leaders can miss victories like active new members and successful events. Those seem like small accomplishments, but remember that someone worked hard to get those victories, so making it a point to celebrate makes it more likely for your members to work hard for the next “little” win on the way to the big goal!

Encourage balance

This might be a bigger goal for you as an association pro. Make sure you and your staffers have a work/life balance that is workable. You can’t be performing top service if you’re not feeling tops, and you can’t be feeling tops if your personal relationships (and sanity) are suffering!

Let’s go back to member engagement. We have a guide for that, and it’s free! Get started on those 2015 goals early by downloading it today!

Free Member Retention Guide

Ready to retain members and keep them coming back forever and ever? This guide will teach you everything you need to know about member retention. We cover all the basics, like the first steps to member retention and how to map out your member journey. From there, we dive a bit deeper into retention tips.

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