4 Way to Ensure Association Membership Renewal – 2022

Membership Renewal Best Practices

Renewals of membership contribute to an organization’s long-term viability. A high renewal rate indicates that members are more likely to stick around in the long run as they work together to achieve their goals. While some associations may have low retention rates due to relocation or budget cuts, 75 per cent or higher is the ideal member retention rate.

Similarly, bringing on new members can help you achieve your goals faster. It also indicates that you can generate a revenue stream to help your organization meet its financial objectives. This blog will reveal 4 ways to ensure association membership renewal in 2022.

4 Ways to Ensure Association Membership Renewal in 2022

1. Establish a Seamless Association Membership Renewal Process

If you want more renewals, you’ll need to build a smooth, frictionless renewal experience, like creating a simple sales process to drive more revenue. The more straightforward the process, the more likely the member will renew their membership.

Setting up automated membership reminders and even renewals is one way to make membership renewals easier (as long as the opt-in option is clearly stated). You don’t want to swindle members into renewing their memberships, but auto-renew options are convenient for members and are frequently their preferred method.

2. Identify and contact members who are most likely to churn

Your organization may already have identifiers or data points to identify members who are unlikely to renew. This list of high-risk members can be handy, whether it’s because they haven’t attended an event in the last year, haven’t logged into their membership portal in a long time, or are otherwise inactive.

According to a Tasio post, these data points can be crucial in determining what makes your members tick and why. “They also assist you in segmenting your lists and customizing your targeting strategies to serve your members’ wants and needs better.”

3. Promote Member Engagement

According to the 2021 Membership Marketing Benchmark Report, half of the association executives said members didn’t renew due to a lack of engagement. As a result, it’s critical to keep your members engaged with your company. How are you going to do that?

• 1) Learning Management System (LMS)

  An association LMS is the best tool to grab the attention of your members cost-effectively and effortlessly. An LMS provides learning content and adds value to the members based on the skill gap analysis report. Give your members the most relevant and gamified training materials in one unified platform to boost engagement.

• 2) Website

  Members should be able to easily find news, join an online community, register for events, learn about upcoming programming, sign up for courses or certifications, access benefits, and manage their member profile and annual dues renewal on your website. Unfortunately, a difficult-to-navigate website could be standing in the way of better member engagement.

• 3) Social Media

  Engage with your members on the platforms where they are most active! Share motivational content about your work, promote upcoming events and programming, create interactive content, and post content created by your members.

• 4) Events

  Events are also a great way to give members more value by tapping into their other motivations for joining your organization. If you’re a professional association, for example, networking events that provide members with opportunities for professional development are sure to be beneficial.

• 5) Community

  The community you provide for your members is one of the most valuable benefits. Because community is better than networking because it is built on meaningful relationships, please do everything you can to make one, whether it’s an online or offline community.

4. Use the Correct Channels to Communicate

When communicating with your members, you don’t have to put all your eggs in one basket. For example, a single communication channel (such as a phone call, letter, or social media post) will not resonate with every team member. Instead, use various communication methods to send out renewal notices and reminders.

Keep these two things in mind to help you nail the right communication combo, send your renewal notices on time, and target your messaging:

• 1) It’s time to renew your contract

  • Do your members all renew each year simultaneously, or do they each renew on their anniversary date? With annual cycles, you’ll need to communicate with all of your members simultaneously and through multiple channels.
  • Set up a series of messages (perhaps an email, then a mailer, then a phone call) to auto-send with rolling renewals when they’re approaching their membership anniversary.

• 2) What is the preferred method of communication among members?

  • Not every member prefers to communicate similarly, but your member surveys should reveal what your entire membership likes.
  • If they prefer email, send them emails; if they prefer direct mail, send them a campaign and follow up with a phone call.

It takes time and effort to improve the member experience

By putting members first, you can increase your association membership renewals and keep your members happy in the long run by providing value and flexibility to them. Look to see where your membership interacts the most if you’re unsure where to begin.

Do they like all of your social media posts? Then perhaps running targeted ads will be beneficial. Are you noticing a drop in your email clickthrough rate? Test different subjects and copy to see what your members respond best to.