Give yourself a '10' if you've done this in the past 6 -12 months. Check off a '0' if you have never done this.
Often, we get so engrossed in our ongoing day-to-day challenges - the next issue of the magazine, an upcoming conference, the board meeting book, etc. - that sometimes we forget that our organization wouldn't even exist without our members. Yes, we all say we're worried about the decline in membership figures, and the trend of fewer renewals. But have you asked some fundamental, yet critical, member/patron-joining questions recently?
By the way, we meant what we said about keeping score, too. How else will you know if you're making the grade?
Often, we get so engrossed in our ongoing day-to-day challenges - the next issue of the magazine, an upcoming conference, the board meeting book, etc. - that sometimes we forget that our organization wouldn't even exist without our members. Yes, we all say we're worried about the decline in membership figures, and the trend of fewer renewals. But have you asked some fundamental, yet critical, member/patron-joining questions recently?
- What is the membership joining experience?'
- Are we making it easy for people join? Or do we have obstacles that challenge this process?
- What could we do to make signing up and renewing seamless?
- Does our welcome and onboarding process help the new member get exactly what they want, quickly and easily? Or are we drowning them with too much from the start?
By the way, we meant what we said about keeping score, too. How else will you know if you're making the grade?