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6 Effective Membership Recruitment Ideas
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Membership recruitment boosts your association or nonprofit’s revenue, growth, and influence. The more members you have, the larger your network, monthly dues revenue, and number of opportunities offered.
Each of these recruitment benefits ultimately makes future recruitment easier and increases member retention. No matter where you are in your membership recruitment journey, you can implement an array of strategies to expand your membership base.
Let’s dive into the details of each approach to help you optimize your membership recruitment campaign.
1. Enhance and promote your membership benefits.
People want to join membership programs that will be worth the fees. For nonprofit organizations, they may be willing to pay a bit more in dues than they would to a for-profit organization, but that doesn’t mean you should skimp on the benefits.
Offering a variety of membership benefits helps with recruitment in two ways:
- Member-driven promotion. Individuals who feel they gain a lot of value by being a member of your organization are more likely to recommend your nonprofit or association to friends and family. This is word-of-mouth marketing, and it’s one of the most effective but difficult-to-control marketing channels. Ultimately, current and former members will share their opinions on their experience with your membership program, and you can boost the odds they have positive things to say by creating a positive experience.
- Clear value-add. Why should a prospective member sign up with your nonprofit or association over a program offered by a similar organization? The answer to this question is your value-add, and it should be clear in nearly all of your marketing. For instance, a museum might offer members discount annual passes, an arts organization might have exclusive members-only classes, and a professional development program might offer access to an extensive network of professionals.
Before starting any membership recruitment campaign, revisit your current membership benefits. Ask yourself what benefits you provide, what needs your target audience has that those benefits fulfill, and how those benefits are unique from competitors.
Identify areas where you can grow your membership benefits. For example, add a mentorship program or improve your continuing education offerings. Make sure to review member survey results. They can reveal where current members have made suggestions for improvement.
2. Attract your target audience through search.
Prospective members need to be aware of your membership program before they can join. You can spread the word about your program in a number of ways, including social media ads, email newsletters, local events, and newspaper ads.
Rather than a short ad burst, invest in the long-term health of your recruitment efforts with search engine optimization (SEO). Optimizing your website for search engines increases the chances that prospective members using platforms like Google will find your organization when searching relevant keywords.
Essentially, SEO amplifies your web presence and turns your website into a more reliable revenue-generating channel. By investing in SEO, you can source new leads to power your recruitment efforts indefinitely.
To get started with SEO, follow these steps:
- Perform keyword research. When a prospective member wants to join an organization like yours, what types of words and phrases are they entering into search engines? These keywords might be related to your organization type like “professional associations for engineers,” or benefits you offer like “art classes for adults.” As part of your keyword research, try entering terms you think prospective members would search for into Google yourself and check out the results pages. If you see membership programs like yours, you might have identified strong potential keywords.
- Assess your website’s technical performance. SEO is partially based on user experience, and users tend to have a positive experience on pages that load quickly, have no broken links, and are mobile-responsive.
- Create keyword-optimized content. To rank highly for your chosen keywords, create high-quality, original content focused on those topics. Google considers web pages that demonstrate expertise, are well-researched, and align with users’ needs to be high-quality.
If you feel your organization lacks the time, resources, or knowledge to complete any of these tasks, consider turning to an SEO marketing agency. These agencies can help nonprofits and associations promote their products, services, and membership programs by creating content, improving their websites for search, and connecting them with other organizations in their field.
3. Host a membership drive.
Similar to how a nonprofit builds momentum and excitement for donors to be involved in year-end giving, you can also host a membership drive or campaign. A membership campaign generates excitement and interest in your work and puts your organization in front of more prospective members.
Your membership drive might involve:
- Member referral incentives. Offer current members a membership discount, free event registration, or gift cards when they refer a new member. Referrals can bring like-minded people into your organization.
- Prospective member events. Organize happy hours, lunch-and-learn sessions, or other opportunities for potential members to mingle and get a feel for your organization.
- Social media giveaways. Encourage online engagement and user-generated content by running contests for new and current members. Anyone who shares information about your campaigns will be entered to win prizes, such as branded swag or discounted membership.
Some membership initiatives can be ongoing programs, such as offering your referral incentives all year round, whereas others, like an event or giveaway, should have a clear deadline.
Be strategic about when to create a sense of urgency. Doing so can quickly boost membership over a short period of time, but hosting too many “urgent” campaigns may make prospective members doubt just how exclusive various benefits are.
4. Offer a volunteer opportunity.
Volunteering is a great way to bring people together. Invite your members to volunteer and your volunteers to join your membership program! For example, if you’re a culinary arts organization, you could organize a day to cook meals at a local homeless shelter and promote joining your culinary training program to volunteers.
This lets prospective members casually network with current members and get more information about your organization. It also serves as a bonding experience as everyone dedicates their time to a good cause.
Follow up after the event to thank prospective members for volunteering their time. Let them know who they can contact if they have questions about your organization or want to join future events.
5. Open your major events to everyone.
You put time and effort into major events to ensure they reflect your organization’s values, benefit members, and create a memorable experience members will share with others. Rather than keeping these events exclusive, open up your annual events, such as your yearly conference, to everyone.
Some of the benefits of doing so include:
- Greater reach: An open-door approach to recruitment provides prospective members with a demo of what being a member is like. By opening your events to the broader public, you give them a glance into what your organization stands for and the benefits they could receive by being a member.
- More networking: Your current members are one of your best marketing resources, and making them available to prospective members shows off and expands your network. Encourage current members to invite their non-member friends and family to attend open events or as plus ones to exclusive events.
- Increased interest: If prospective members enjoy your annual event, they’ll become curious about what else your program offers. Use the opportunity to showcase other member benefits, like your networking events, regular member activities, and career development opportunities.
Outside of events, you can continue this open-door approach by offering a free membership tier. This tier only has access to select parts of your membership program but continually advertises the additional benefits free members could receive if they decide to upgrade.
6. Use a strategic social media approach.
Social media has an extensive reach and can be a creative way to recruit new members throughout the year. You can use your social media pages to:
- Spotlight current members
- Create behind-the-scenes videos
- Launch targeted ad campaigns
- Run membership giveaways
Social media marketing relies heavily on users sharing and engaging with your content. As such, make your content member-centric and get your current members involved in your promotion efforts. Tag them in membership spotlights, enter individuals who share your promotional posts into giveaways, and respond to current and prospective members’ comments on your posts.
To encourage your current members to follow your social media accounts and interact with your content, promote your pages and make following them part of your welcome series. Then, in newsletters and other announcements, explain that your social media channels are the go-to platforms for getting updates on what’s happening at your nonprofit or association, even if you plan to continue using your website and email for promotion.
Take Creative, Strategic Steps to Recruit More Members
Membership recruitment is a critical, ongoing process for your nonprofit or association’s health and future. Strategic membership recruitment ideas demonstrate the value of your organization to prospective members, helping you make a strong case for them to join.
As you plan a membership recruitment campaign, assess and improve the benefits you currently offer, open your events to the general public, and leverage your social media and other marketing channels to attract your target audience.
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