Growing IECA One Chapter At A Time

with Meg Tully, CAE

Association Development Director

What Will You Learn?

 How to establish goals and objectives for a recruitment campaign  How to identify prospects  Different types of recruitment methods  Tailoring recruitment methods to your audience  Importance of follow up  Lifetime Value Calculation

Acknowledgment

Most of the material for this course was taken from the

Membership Recruitment

Techniques Vignette, published by the American Society of American Executives, 2009.

A Team Approach

“Recruitment is a continuous activity that requires a commitment from the entire organization. Whether it is the CEO or the administrative assistant, everyone is responsible to recruit new members and to work as a strategic team to accomplish your organization’s overall membership recruitment goals.”

–ASAE Membership Recruitment Techniques Online Vignette

First Questions

      Who makes up your market? What potential markets can you tap into to recruit prospective members? What is it that you want to accomplish with recruitment?

What are the goals and objectives of your recruitment campaign? Are your goals realistic? What resources are available to help you to achieve your recruitment goals?

Stay Tuned….

Market Definitions

Know Your Members

   – most important task Demographics Motivation    Why do they stay members?

Benefit Value  Why are they members?

What attracted them to IECA?

Why do they buy certain products, services?

“If you don’t know what your members want or what’s on their minds, you surely won’t be able to serve them.”

IECA Membership Demographics

3.55% 3.30% 5.63% 6.52% 9.03% 14.05% 17.87% 16.59% 14.75% Consultant Government Agency Contractor Engineer Supplier Manufacturer None Selected Stormwater Other Academic

3,124 Members (down 17.24% from last year)

% Growth per Year (Member Numbers)

20% 15% 10% 5% 0% -5% -10% -15% 2001 2002 2002 2003 2003 2004 2004 2005 2005 2006 2006 2007 2007 2008 2008 2009

Membership Trends

Membership Totals/Growth Trends 2005-2008

3700 3500 3300 3100 2900 2700 2500 Ja n 05 A pr -0 5 Ju l-0 5 O ct -0 5 Ja n 06 A pr -0 6 Ju l-0 6 O ct -0 6 Ja n 07 A pr -0 7 Ju l-0 7 O ct -0 7 Ja n 08 A pr -0 8 Ju l-0 8 O ct -0 8

Month

Chapter Trends

Chapter Growth 2007 to 2008

900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 A us tra G la si re a at L ak G re es at R Ib iv er er s oA m er ic a In di M a al ay M si id M a -A ou tla nt nt ai ic n S ta te s N or N th or ea th er st n P la P in s ac O ifi nt c ar N io or th S w es ou t th A S fri ou ca th C en tra S l ou th ea st W es te rn Dec-07 Dec-08

New Member Trends

New Members By Month

250 200 150 100 50 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Who Are Your Prospects?

Three Types

 Resisters – people who dislike the organization   Indifferents – prospects who do not see the value in joining Uniforms – have little info about IECA to make an informed decision

“Understanding their decision-making process will help you choose the right marketing message, marketing strategy, sales process and sales strategy.”

Segmenting the Market

     

Matching the Needs of Members:

separate offers

Boost Profits:

sensitive to price personalized solution,

Stronger Growth Opportunities:

“up sell” after introducing a particular product at a lower, introductory price

Retaining Members:

appeal to members and potential members at different stages of their life

Targeted Marketing Communications:

relevant the message is

Gain Market Share:

achieve the competitive advantage and become the favored choice of potential members

See Potential Market Segment Worksheet

The Recruitment Plan

  You’ve defined your audience. Now…

Begin Planning

   Goals, objectives, rationale Outline should be simple and have a defined outcome. What You Need - Pull together resources, including your membership development program, budget and organizational strategy.

See Membership Recruitment Plan Sample Document

Outline

 Proactive campaign  Set clearly defined goals  Include measurable timelines  Example:

We will increase our membership by 5% by the end of this fiscal year. See Recruitment Plan Checklist

Marketing Plan

Marketing Plan

 Written document that details the necessary actions to achieve one or more marketing objectives. It can be for a product, service, or brand that typically covers 1 year to 5 years. The plan should include short and long-term goals of the association, knowledge about the immediate market place, the necessary resources to make the plan successful and project timelines with estimated expense figures.

Includes

 Executive Summary  Research Analysis   Objectives, Strategies and Tactics Marketing Summary

See Membership Marketing Plan Template

Lifetime Value



Lifetime Value of a Member (LTV)

can help you determine how much is reasonable to spend to recruit a new member.



You will need to know:

  average length of time a member remains a member your total number of members    yearly membership dues and non-dues revenue expenses incurred to service members annually You also need to evaluate your value proposition

See Why Do Members Join Your Association, then Lifetime Value Calculators and Examples

SWOT

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

The SWOT analysis helps identify the various situations your association may need to examine before the decision-making phase of your marketing campaign.

    Record Strengths Define Weaknesses List Opportunities Understand Threats

See SWOT Analysis Worksheet



Membership Marketing Implementation Plan

Target Date

Implementation Schedule

Action Items Responsible Party

Know what you want to achieve!

    

Designing the Campaign – Five Elements

Techniques

     – pros and cons Sales Calls Trade Shows Member-Get-A-Member Telemarketing Advertising   Direct Mail Electronic Recruitment

Theme Offer

     Product Price Payment Options Guarantee Policy Terms

Timing Tools/Materials See Writing a Membership Recruitment Plan Document

Follow Up

New Member Packet

 Welcome letter  Newsletter  Testimonials  How to Access tools and resources  Contact List

Evaluation – Close the Loop

 Establish a benchmark  Code and track every application  Keep accurate and complete record of costs  Analyze results  SPIE!

What Tools Can You Use?

  

Chapter Portals

 Rosters of new members  Rosters of non-renewals

Chapter Leader Resource Center Partners for Excellence

 Maintain a web site       Appoint a membership chair Send IECA your attendee lists in Excel Send IECA updates, news Publish regular newsletters, other communications Calendar of Events Lower price for members at events