Babette Ten Haken

Contact Babette
  • Home
  • Programs
    • Keynotes
    • Breakouts & Workshops
    • Professional Innovation Coaching
  • Blog
  • My Story
    • Testimonials
    • Honors & Awards
  • Resources
    • White Papers
    • Do You Mean Business? – The Book
  • Contact Me!
You are here: Home / Human Capital & Industrial IoT Workforce / 3 Association Membership Recruit Tips

3 Association Membership Recruit Tips

October 16, 2014 by Babette Ten Haken Leave a Comment

How successful is your professional association in recruiting, mentoring and retaining membership?

Today, I attended a breakfast meeting for a professional association. We discussed how very effective this particular professional association has been over the years in making themselves relevant and accessible to both new and old members.

That’s significant news these days.

The majority of professional associations with whom I’ve either worked or have been a member / board member, are struggling to retain membership beyond Year One.

Here are 3 tips to keep top of mind as you and your Board chew on what it will take to grow and retain your professional association’s membership over the next five years. Ask yourselves:

Tip 1 – Do you make your members feel welcome?

If you are an old boy or old girl in your professional association, everyone knows who you are and greets you. If you are the new kid on the block, meetings can be deadly. If your organization has no mentorship program, create one. If you are an Officer or Chapter President, and you don’t make it a policy to meet, greet and mentor new members, shame on you. In one association of which I am no longer a member, I constantly got the eyeball once-over from the President with the clear message: “Who the heck are you and what the heck are you doing at my meeting?” With that type of exclusive and elitist attitude, would you want to return for the next meeting?

Tip 2 – Is your organization offering age and gender-appropriate perks for membership engagement?

What’s the average age of your association’s Board members compared with the average age of new member recruits? Unlike the “old days”, these days employees are paying for their own professional memberships. New members are wondering “What’s really in this for me?” in terms of ROI on their membership dues. Make sure your internal perception of ROI of membership is aligned with that of your new members. The $500 in vendor discounts they receive as a benefit of membership may not float their boats the way it does for older members.  Younger members may not be interested in annual golf outings or family picnics. Are you in-touch or out-of-touch with your recruits?

Tip 3 – How effectively do you leverage your social media presence in new membership engagement?

Many professional organizations have LinkedIn Discussion Forums, managed by an internal employee. As Board Members, are you really minding the store? What’s the level of engagement from your younger members, who are consummately engaged on other social media platforms? A LinkedIn professional Discussion Forum should be your organization’s place to shine. Yet in many of these groups, conversation flow is dominated and squashed by retired members who talk about “back in the old days” and put down anyone else’s ideas. You know who these people are because they do the same thing to younger, newer members at local and regional meetings. Go back to Tip 1. Who is going to want to dip their toe into that Discussion Forum, knowing there are naysayers lurking in the background?

Make sure you and your Board members aren’t continuing to drink your own Kool-Aid®. Evaluate your own performance by using the same criteria your new recruits employ when weighing your professional association’s value and relevance to their engagement, interest, time and investment.

ASQ Blogger logo-solid-webI’m part of the ASQ Influential Voices program.

While I receive an honorarium from ASQ for my commitment, the thoughts and opinions expressed on my blog are my own.

Looking for an objective, enterprise-level facilitator for your next meeting? Babette Ten Haken, Founder & President of Sales Aerobics for Engineers®, LLC is is your ideal objective facilitator and association workshop speaker. Take a seat at the table and become part of the discussion instead of trying to simultaneously lead and participate. Check out her Workshops, Speaking and Coaching services!

Enjoy this post? Please share it!

Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInShare on EmailShare on Reddit

Filed Under: Human Capital & Industrial IoT Workforce, Professional Development Tagged With: board members, membership, membership recruitment, new members, professional association

About Babette Ten Haken

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hire Babette to speak at your next conference or corporate meeting.

https://youtu.be/Yf-h80O_QZ4
Sign up to receive posts via email
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide
No spam, ever. Promise. Powered by FeedBlitz
SalesProCentral
Customer Experience Update

Categories

  • Collaboration And Convergence
  • Customer Experience, Success, Loyalty, Retention
  • Human Capital & Industrial IoT Workforce
  • Professional Development
  • Trending Book Reviews
  • Uncategorized

Recent Posts

  • Target Working with the Best so You can be Your Best!
  • Your Post Pandemic Career Strategy Evolved. Now what?
  • 3 One Millimeter Mindset Professional Goals Blog Posts
  • What Is Your Professional Career Voice: Leader or Follower?
  • Why Your Professional Core Capabilities Limit Your Value

Archives

Storytelling for STEM Professionals and Left Brain Thinkers Speaking Programs. Learn more....

Contact Babette
Sign up to receive posts via email
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide
No spam, ever. Promise. Powered by FeedBlitz

Recent Posts

Target Working with the Best so You can be Your Best!

Your Post Pandemic Career Strategy Evolved. Now what?

3 One Millimeter Mindset Professional Goals Blog Posts

Follow Us!

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on TwitterFollow Us on LinkedInFollow Us on Instagram

Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions

CATALYST FOR PROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION: Storytelling for STEM Professionals and Left Brain Thinkers Speaking Programs.
Sales Aerobics for Engineers®, All Rights Reserved 2021 ©
By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies