Transcript Document
NARFE Federation Presidents Meeting 32nd NARFE National Convention August 2012 NARFE Membership Presentation Outline Membership - Where Have We Been Membership - Where We Are Membership - Where We Are Going MGI 2012 Benchmarking Report - Findings of Interest NARFE Membership Where Have We Been NARFE has experienced a 30-year, steep membership decline since our membership high of nearly 500,000 in 1982. Reliance on OPM mailings as the sole source of new member acquisition has produced too few new members and left the association vulnerable. With the aging of our membership base over 30 years, NARFE suffers significant losses each year. The cultural shift away from membership organizations felt nationally, impacts NARFE’s ability to attract younger members. Technology-based lifestyle change manifests with fewer groups meeting “face-to-face” and an increasing preference for online social networking. NARFE Membership Where We Are Headquarters is nine months into an aggressive marketing campaign designed: To reinstate lapsed members To find new lists for large-scale new member acquisition To generate on-line leads (prospects) To improve existing marketing materials, and To provide web-based materials and tools to federations and chapters NARFE Membership Where We Are Our efforts have included: A successful telemarketing test to lapsed members which is now on-going A successful online lead (or prospect) generation test which will be rolled out in September We have enhanced and expanded our cultivation email series (which converts prospects to members) Our 1st Acquisition test mailing – dropped March 19th. Our 2nd Acquisition test mailing – dropped June 29th. NARFE Membership Where We Are Continued The Member-Get-A-Member test was mailed on June 12th Our 3rd Acquisition test mailing – dropped August 13th Two more acquisition mailings are in the planning stage for a total of 5 tests this year We are in the planning stages of the following: The OPM Fall mailing which will address the dramatic decline in response since the OPM back-log began. (Our prime target audience awaits full annuity with little discretionary income.) NARFE Membership Where We Are Continued Outreach efforts to: Federal Human Resource Managers GSA approved PRS and Financial Planning Providers Web-based materials and tools for federation and chapters 2013 Strategic Planning to begin post-convention NARFE Membership Where We Are Going “Turning the Ship” will require continued: Expert-driven, strategic planning Thorough and continuous analysis Aggressive and innovative testing Appropriate resource management MGI 2012 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report Findings of Interest Associations Top Three Challenges (Individual Associations) Difficulty attracting and/or maintaining younger members Membership too diverse; difficulty meeting the needs of different segments Perception of the association and/or its culture Fifty percent of associations report that 10% or less of their members volunteer Thirty four percent of Association report declines in overall five-year membership counts MGI 2012 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report Findings of Interest Recruitment Top 5 Most Effective Recruitment Marketing Channels Word-of-mouth recommendations Email Association website Direct mail Cross-sell to non-members who buy your products or attend your conferences MGI 2012 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report Findings of Interest Engagement Communication Methods used to onboard New Members (Top 8) Email welcome Mailed welcome kit Membership card or certificate Volunteer or staff welcome phone call In-person new-member reception or orientation New-members introductory email series Special discount on purchases Invite to chapter meeting MGI 2012 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report Findings of Interest Renewals NARFE renewal rates are excellent by industry standards. Overall, only 22% of associations report renewal rates over 90% If you narrow the data to those associations with over 20,000 members, only 16% report renewal rates of 90% or higher I f you further narrow the data to individual member associations (not trade associations), only15% report renewal rates of 90% or higher