Association Membership Recruitment — or Retention?
Author: David E. Stevens
Recruitment is the most important activity for association membership development, correct? Not necessarily.
Member recruitment is certainly important. But if you want your association to thrive, membership retention is the more important metric.
Here are three reasons why retention is more important than recruitment:
One: Get retention right, you will have built the basis for recruitment. High retention rates are the signal that you have happy, satisfied members. And happy, satisfied members tend to share the association story with others, automatically creating a grassroots recruitment campaign. The take-away: start with retention, and follow with recruitment.
Two: “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” is certainly true for associations and membership organizations. It’s true not only because it takes less effort to keep a member than find a new member, but because it is less expensive to retain a member than recruit a new member. The take-away: recruitment oftens gets the attention, but retention will make your director of finance much happier; ultimately, the membership numbers will make your board happier, too.
Three: A low retention rate is a signal that you have serious underlying problems in your association or membership organization. Recruitment of members is primarily a function of great marketing. But member retention is a function of both marketing, and more importantly, a great membership experience. If you can’t keep your members, then you are wasting money recruiting them until you fix the association. The take-away: if you can’t retain, recruitment will burn through prospects because they won’t join a second time.
The bottom line is that recruitment is important for your association or membership organization. But retention must be your first priority. Get retention right — then move on to recruitment.
About the Author:
For more advice, resources and books about association membership retention and recruitment, membership development, member benefits, event marketing, event registration, meeting planning, non-dues revenue, government affairs, and association jobs, visit the Best Association® Resources & Tools website at http://www.bestassociation.com.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Association Membership Recruitment — or Retention?
