MC Talks
The MemberClicks Blog

Silent auctions are a GREAT way to generate non-dues revenue for your association or chamber of commerce. But the success of a silent auction all depends on the interest and demand for the items you have available.

Now some items are pretty standard and always popular - wine and/or beer baskets, vacation packages, sports paraphernalia, etc. But what other items and offerings could you throw in there to not only switch things up, but really grab people’s attention? Here are three:

Your website is the hub of online member engagement. It’s where your members go to access content, view and register for upcoming events, interact with other members - the list of benefits goes on and on.

So having a good website - one members find easy to use and valuable - is of utmost importance.

But how do you know if your website is performing as it should be? How do you know how it’s being perceived by your members? Well...just ask! Consider sending a website evaluation survey with the following eight questions:

A major benefit of your organization is likely professional development: providing your members with educational opportunities to help them stay sharp and ahead of the curve.

Now for many organizations, a majority of those educational offerings center around hard skills, which typically require unique training (such as computer programming). Teaching those hard skills (and best practices related to those hard skills) is CRITICAL and a big reason why people join your organization.

But just as important - yet often overlooked - is soft skills training. Soft skills are a bit more subjective and rather difficult to quantify, but examples include:

You’ve heard of email marketing calendars. You may even have an email marketing calendar. It’s a great way to plan ahead and get really strategic about your member and prospect communications. (Plus, it’s a great way to ensure you’re not overdoing it. Or, just as dangerous, underdoing it.)

But here’s an idea for you that may also add some value: a handwritten note calendar.

From webinars to conferences, educational events tend to draw a crowd. But whether that crowd leaves happy or not, well...a big part of that has to do with your event speakers. Did they deliver new, interesting, and/or helpful content? Did they cover what attendees were hoping they would?

Because so much of your event’s success depends on how well your speakers do, it’s worth taking some time to prep them effectively. In fact, here are three resources you may want to pass along:

Even if you’re a fairly organized person (your desk is clean, your papers are all put away, your emails are filed nicely into folders, etc.), chances are, keeping up with your to-dos can sometimes be a challenge.

You have your personal to-dos and your professional to-dos. You have your urgent to-dos and your “later down the road” to-dos. Throw in the fact that these to-dos are constantly changing, and well, it’s a lot to keep track of!

Enter Google Keep. Google Keep is a note-taking service (you guessed it, from Google!) that can be a game-changer in terms of staying organized.

Here are three reasons, in particular, you may want to give it a shot:

A big part of management is finding - and keeping - great people around you. We’re talking great employees!

Employees directly impact not only the work that gets done at your association or chamber (and by extension, the advancement of your association or chamber), but also how your members feel about your organization. (How staff treats them at events, what the tone is like in the emails they receive, how helpful (and pleasant) phone calls with your organization are, etc.)

But even if you’ve only been in a management role for a short time, you know staffing, like many things, comes with its own set of problems. Below are three, in particular, just about all associations and chambers face at some point, and better yet, solutions for each:

Summer means many things:

Pool days.
Barbeques.
Fresh fruit.
And for many, annual conferences and meetings!

But it also means vacation season. So when your event is designed to engage your members and provide them with much of the value they’re paying annual dues for (and not to mention, generate non-dues revenue), but they won’t be in town to attend...what do you do?

Well unfortunately, if they’re not around to attend, they’re not around to attend. It’s impossible to cater to everyone’s schedule. That said, there are a few workarounds to still engage those members and generate a little bit of non-dues revenue. Take a look!  

For most organizations, finding volunteers - time and time again - can be tough. And for that reason, many associations and chambers find themselves asking the same people (people who’ve volunteered before) to volunteer again. They’re engaged. They’re committed. They’re willing. No harm in asking, right?

Certainly not! It’s natural to resort to your most engaged members. But over time, those members may get burned out. Serving on back-to-back-to-back committees may have drained them, and as a result, they may not be enjoying their membership within your organization quite as much.

Not. Good.

That’s why today, we’re talking all about volunteer burnout. What are the signs that your volunteers are reaching that point? And when you recognize those signs, what should you do next? Here are a few tips:

The smiley face. The heart eyes. The raised hands. Whether you love ‘em or hate ‘em, emojis are everywhere!

But should they be in your organization’s marketing? Well, that all depends on your organization’s audience. Every organization and industry is different. If your audience is a little more buttoned-up, then it might be best to forgo emojis. But on the flip side, if your audience is a little more laid back, then emojis could be a great way to showcase your organization’s personality and better connect with them.

Not sure where your audience falls? Do a little market research. Talk to your members, experiment on social media, and do a little A/B testing with your emails. See what your members (and prospects) respond well to, and then go from there.

Now let’s say you are interested in trying out emoji marketing. Well as with most things, there ARE a few best practices. Take a look!