A new perspective born out of a crisis.
Since the COVID-19 crisis began, we’ve connected with thousands of chambers and associations. We’ve seen some rise to the occasion by reinventing themselves, and they will likely emerge better equipped to provide benefit to their members.
And we’ve seen others hold on to traditions of old. Conversely, these organizations may struggle to show value.
Moving past “unprecedented times.”
Will you return to business as usual? Or will you see it as a chance to innovate?
Scroll down for a compilation of ideas to help you through.
This guide is not a playbook. Instead, it’s designed to be a thought-provoking strategic planning tool for you and your board to use as you think about your own crisis response and recovery plan.
Scroll down to access the tips, recommendations, and success stories stemming from our many conversations with chambers and associations. Some of the ideas may make you uncomfortable. That’s good. It means you’re stretching to think beyond the safety of old ideas to consider what’s needed in a reality we never thought we’d face.
Don’t be afraid of what lies ahead. Embrace it, and good things will happen.
Reassess Your Value Proposition
The vision you have for your organization today may no longer be effective, relevant, or possible. This makes it necessary to reevaluate how to deliver value going forward.
Begin the reevaluation work with a comprehensive assessment of your value proposition.
Value Proposition
A Definition for Associations & Chambers“A value proposition is a clear, simple message that helps convey to members why they write a dues renewal check, attend your events, donate to PAC, or read your mail.”
“Associations across the country are considering their member value proposition as the most important step in re-evaluating and discovering their promise to their members.”
-Melynn Sight, nSight Marketing
Cut the (Desktop) Cord
The COVID-19 crisis forced most chambers and association professionals to work remotely. Many expect this trend will continue, which means being tethered to the office full time could be a thing of the past.
Those with laptops and a strategic stack of web-based tools have been able to continue business without missing a beat. Those without should make sure they have the needed equipment and tech infrastructure to run their organization, access files, and enable their members to engage remotely, including:
- Electronic payment capabilities that allow members to pay for membership fees, events, services, and products online while integrating with your member management software.
- Web-based member management software you can access from home, while visiting members, and at events.
- A membership application on your website that is easy to find, fill out, and submit.
- A mobile app for your staff so they’re never detached from real-time membership information and the ability to load contact data, view contacts and notes, register and check-in event attendees, and process payments.
- A mobile app for your members so they can stay informed, pay invoices, and interact with other members.
End the One-Size-Fits-All Membership
The annual membership fee and benefits model has gone relatively unchanged for many organizations, which presents strategic opportunities for forward-thinking chambers and associations.
It’s Time to Eliminate the Annual “Renewal Event.”
For many chambers and associations, memberships are structured as an annual investment with a defined renewal date. Many processes and staff hours are focused on this event – sending out renewal notices, following up to secure the renewal, annual discussions to prove value, and other tedious tasks. There is comfort in this model, as large annual dues payments flow to the income statement.
Meanwhile, the recurring subscription model has become commonplace with the software your members use, the content they stream, the health clubs they attend, the utilities they consume. Your members have become accustomed to subscriptions that are paid for monthly or annually and automatically renew, so why not implement it at your organization?
For many members, a lower monthly payment option may be preferred, particularly if their cashflow has large peaks and valleys, while other members may prefer an automatically renewing annual subscription. Either way, providing members with payment options and removing the annual “renewal event” will increase retention and save you time, time that can be spent directly serving your members.
Rethink the Value of Membership Benefits.
Recent world events have given us all a time to reflect.
- How can you provide the services that matter most to each of your members?
- How can you differentiate between what one member values versus another?
- How can you financially and logistically plan to deliver on the benefits members want?
In Race for Relevance – 5 Radical Changes for Associations, authors Harrison Coerver and Mary Byers note that the often-cited woe that members don’t have time to participate in association initiatives is really “an indictment of the value of the proposed activity or project.”
Your organization could spend countless hours trying to define membership programs and set packages, yet, as Coerver and Byers state, “Unused services have no value. Unneeded programs have no value.”
Provide your members with benefits they find meaningful, help them perform better, are fun, or support a cause of importance.
Innovate Your Events & Networking
The global pandemic quickly accelerated the trend from live to digital events that was already underway. Online webinars, video chats, and virtual conferences are the very things many chambers and associations resisted in the past. Today, they have become the norm and an expected way to share information and ideas with your members and community.
Here are quick tips for navigating and embracing the shift to digital events:
- Blend in-person and virtual attendees in the same live event to allow increased flexibility and mitigate the risk of event cancellations (e.g., weather, natural disasters).
- Start with your event goals to determine whether it should be live or virtual (or a combination). For example, to drive lively discussion and debate, have a multi-speaker panel discussion; for attendee discussion, set up live roundtables or video chat breakout rooms; for more in-depth collaboration, consider a recorded presentation with roundtable discussions and live recaps).
- Tailor event sponsorships to allow flexibility for members and supporters to create the best sponsorship package for their unique needs and goals. For example, if a potential sponsor of a virtual event values opportunities for one-to-one interactions with attendees, provide a proposal that includes one-to-one consultations with attendees – along with video advertisements, a co-presenting role, and attendee data from the event.
- Provide a member forum where members can share ideas, information, special offers, job postings, and announcements. You can facilitate member idea exchanges by posting thought-provoking and discussion-inviting topics for asynchronous networking.
- Offer professional development and training online and provide certificates of completion.
- Embrace the costs of the new event landscape – virtual events will generate reduced registration and sponsorship fees, but your costs will be substantially reduced.
Rethink Member Communications
We’re in uncharted territory. Yet many organizations have found ways to think outside the box to keep their members informed and connected during these unprecedented times, including:
Putting the “social” in social media ahead of self-promotion. Try polls, Facebook Live events, stories, and discussion-inviting posts to keep your group engaged.
Incorporating video into your messaging. Offer tips, give a pep talk, or announce a fun promotion or contest to help get people’s minds off the barrage of bad news. (Who hasn’t tried the water bottle flip challenge?)
Facilitating member-to-member connections with an online forum for your members. It can help to create a friendly environment where everyone can be open to share ideas, information, special offers, announcements, job opportunities, and more.
Leveraging marketing automation to build targeted email campaigns that ensure the right member receives customized information at the right time intervals. It’s an efficient way to increase your member outreach while decreasing your effort.
Allowing time for personal outreach. Technology can help you efficiently communicate with members, but do not underestimate the value of one-to-one member outreach. Association and chamber staff who personally contact members receive positive feedback and constructive ideas they may not get with an email, social media post, or newsletter. Make a point to schedule, track, and manage face-to-face and phone check-ins with members throughout the year.
Embrace Advocacy
Does your organization participate in local, state, or federal advocacy work on behalf of your members or shy away for fear of offending a member? In times of struggle, the members, industries, businesses, and communities you serve are looking for – and need – a voice to work on their behalf.
If your organization does not currently engage in advocacy, it may be time to take a closer look at how your staff can play a role in the advocacy process and develop your strategic plan to build relationships with local, state, and the federal government.
Be the Voice of Your Community
When members evaluate their membership investment, will they ask themselves “Was my association helpful during the crisis?”
- Don’t wait for an invitation to lead
- Be the source for answers
- Don’t be timid
Whether your community is centered around geography, an industry, or an interest, everyone has questions right now. Your organization can be the source for answers. Now is an ideal time to position your organization as an expert and drive greater awareness to your organization and its mission.
Be a resource. Available technology opens the door to providing expertise and resources quickly in a variety of ways. For example, you can develop a Crisis Resources web page with at-a-glance critical information and links your members or community needs the most. You can keep your members informed by sending easy-to-digest updates on how legal and legislative changes affect them directly.
Find out what is most important to your membership. Conduct a short survey to gauge what’s on their minds so you can deliver what members are looking for.
Build trust through content marketing. By creating compelling content on topics based on what members are looking for, you increase the likelihood of retaining members, being found online, and establishing your organization as the voice of your community. Content marketing can include informative social media posts, blog articles, press releases, white papers, infographics, videos, and more.
