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‘Tis the season to be thankful! And boy, are we ever. It’s been a remarkable year, and there’s so much to look forward to in 2019!

But, before we get ahead of ourselves, we think it’s important to take a step back and reflect on what we’re most thankful for: our customers.

There are SO many reasons we’re thankful for you, but here are four, in particular, we’d like to share:

Your association management software is the lifeblood of your organization. It contains all key contact information, annual billing, past transactions, related individuals and companies, events management, committees, certifications and much more.

And yet, with so much information being added TO your membership database, too many association leaders don’t take information FROM their database to help them drive better decisions!

Spending a little time with the data can pay huge dividends as you look at your membership in different ways. You’ll get a better understanding of how members, companies, or industry segments contribute to your organization’s health. And, you can better understand the aspects of the organization that your members value the most.

With the right reports, it’s easy to uncover powerful data. See if your software includes some of these common reports:

Note: This post was originally published on 11/4/15; Updated 11/19/18 for added value.

The holiday season is officially upon us, and with that comes a certain level of increased social media visibility. (People are on their phones a lot more, after all.) But how can your organization really leverage that visibility to increase online member engagement? We’ve got a few ideas!

With the New Year closing in on us (seven weeks away), this fourth quarter will be done before you know it! That means your time is even more valuable during the holiday season and you want to make sure you're using your time effectively and efficiently.

But don’t fret! As long as you keep your head on straight, you’ll be able to tackle any project you’re trying to wrap up. Take a look at our time saving tips to help any association (or chamber) professional rock this holiday season!

Engaging your members throughout the year is hard enough. But throw in the holidays, and it often feels downright impossible.

Your members are on vacation, enjoying time with their loved ones, taking a much needed break from their jobs/professions - and rightfully so!

So how can your association or chamber still engage with members, even during the busy holiday season? Here are a few tips:

If you’ve been reading MC Insider (and our emails) over the past year, you’ve probably noticed us talking a bit about Regional Training. And you may have also noticed a theme: We like to ask you about your “why,” and share ours, too!

Since Regional Training (where we come to your neighborhood for two days of in-depth software training sessions) may be new to many of you, we wanted to take a moment and explain the “why” behind regularly hosting these events:

If you’ve ever been to any Disney park, you KNOW they go above and beyond to provide an exceptional customer experience. What makes their approach so special is Cast Members (aka, park employees) are given the authority to go above and beyond for guests.

To give you an example of something I experienced personally: It was my son’s very first time at Disney World in Orlando, and he was SO excited to explore the Star Wars area. It was a particularly busy day, so when it came to meeting characters he had to choose between Kylo Ren and Chewbacca. He ended up choosing Kylo Ren because, as he informed us, he’s “his biggest fan.”

Afterward, we were looking at some of the movie props in the building when a Cast Member struck a conversation with my husband. When he mentioned that we didn’t have time to meet Chewie, the Cast Member simply said “Follow me,” and walked us straight to the front of the line! (True story, I have the pictures to prove it.)

This small act made all the difference for the then 7-year-old - and us, too! And it wouldn’t be difficult to apply some of the same principals at your association. What unexpected gestures can you do for members to show them that you care? We have some ideas:

If you’re a chamber of commerce or an association with members in the retail industry, Small Business Saturday is a big deal for your membership! They have a tough time year-round competing with retail giants. This is THEIR day to shine.

Show your support by doing a little promoting of your own. Check out these three ways to celebrate your members on Small Business Saturday:

If you’re like most chamber or association professionals, you may be inadvertently focusing on acquiring and engaging your current members without trying to actively retain them for the next season. To pick up your retention efforts, try making your renewal messages SO compelling that it’s obvious that they must renew!

That said, remember that there are a lot of ways your renewal messages could do more harm than good. To avoid this, check out our list of what NOT to do with your member renewal campaigns.

Does your association or chamber currently have a volunteer recruitment strategy in place? Or is that strategy, we ask for volunteers as we need them?

If it’s the latter, while that might work on occasion, chances are, at some point in time, you’re going to come up short. For that reason, it’s best to have an ongoing recruitment strategy.

What exactly does that look like? Well it could be as simple as a page on your website and a series of email marketing campaigns. The key, though, is what you include on that web page and in your emails. See below for ideas and suggestions: