There are a number of membership program models your nonprofit can follow, but in order to choose the structure that makes the most sense for you, you’ll first need to understand your own goals.
Ask yourself a few questions as you lay out your membership strategy, including:
The most important element to keep in mind is (as always!) your supporters. Structure your membership program around your constituents’ interests and personalities—after all, they’re your future members!
Move on to the next step when: You’ve determined how you want your membership program to function within your larger nonprofit organization.
Membership fees are essentially how membership programs earn funding (referred to as “dues revenue”). To determine how much your membership program should charge, first consider your membership program’s goals. For example, nonprofits might offer a membership program to raise funding for their mission, while a trade association would seek to provide new opportunities and content for members.
When setting membership fees, consider how many members you think you can encourage to join, then divide your revenue target among those members.
Additionally, offer members multiple ways to pay their membership dues. This increases retention and improves recruitment. You might also consider extending a grace period to members who are late paying their monthly or annual fees.
Move on to the next step when: You’ve decided upon a membership fee amount that makes sense in relation to your membership goals.
Membership programs have fees, and participating members want to get their money’s worth. Ensure your nonprofit offers valuable benefits so that when it’s time to send out membership renewal letters, your members won’t think twice about renewing!
Your program’s benefits depend on your nonprofit. For example, museums and zoos often offer members free entry to their exhibits. In contrast, an animal shelter might send routine animal updates and free gifts, like branded calendars, t-shirts, and tote bags. Organizations like professional and trade associations provide networking opportunities, valuable industry-related content, and access to an online community of professionals.
Move on to the next step when: You’ve come up with a plan for providing membership benefits, no matter how big or small.
As you develop your membership program, you’ll need to appoint a leader (or leadership committee) to take charge of the initiative.
While membership programs can run concurrently with many other fundraising and stewardship efforts, these are specialized programs that require dedicated time and hard work. As such, it’s important that you set up a devoted leadership team to take the charge on these tasks.
Depending on the scale of your organization (and program), you may relegate these roles to any of the groups listed to the right.
No matter which route you take, make sure you have enough hands on deck to keep all your efforts running smoothly.
For organizations on the smaller side, a solo staff member might be well-suited to manage your membership program. Just remember: with only one person overseeing the entire program, you’ll need to have a transition plan in place should this individual ever leave the role.
If your membership program is more expansive, you might want to look into forming a committee of staff persons to handle membership efforts. Have a clear leadership structure in place within your committee to ensure that your membership tasks are most efficiently managed.
If now isn’t the right time to reassign or bring in new staff, you can outsource your membership tasks to a team of volunteers. While volunteers can be a great resource, keep in mind that you won’t have their full-time efforts like you would a member of your staff.
Move on to the next step when: You’ve determined who will take the lead on all membership-related efforts.
To juggle all your member data, you’ll need some form of membership management software.
Software is essential for managing member data, and it can also help with many other member-related tasks by making it possible to:
Look for membership software that integrates with your existing tools. For example, an association might invest in a community engagement tool to manage its online community while using its association management software (AMS) to handle back-end operations.
For professional and nonprofit trade associations, we have to recommend our favorite community engagement platform, Tradewing. Tradewing is an out-of-the-box community engagement tool that associations can implement right away with little need for customization or developer assistance.
Move on to the next step when: You’ve selected a membership management solution that can integrate with your donor database (and any other platforms you may use).
Promotion is a central part of progressing your nonprofit’s mission. Likewise, if you hope to attract new members, you must develop a marketing strategy for your membership program.
When it comes to promoting membership offerings, focus on the value of your program. Rather than simply selling your supporters a product, you should invite your most invested donors into an exclusive, mutually beneficial experience.
As you put together a promotions plan, keep the following tips in mind:
Your nonprofit’s membership website is a key tool for driving registrations and renewals. Fill it with plenty of information regarding your program, including:
Ensure that your website is mobile-responsive so prospective members can learn more about your program on their preferred devices. Additionally, create a members-only area on your website to share exclusive content and events that will further entice people to join.
Make the most of your marketing efforts by choosing your target audience wisely, beginning with donors who are most likely to be interested in your programs. Use your donor data to identify individuals who regularly:
Then, based on details you have on prospective members’ interests and preferences, you can refine your messaging to highlight the benefits that will appeal to them most.
Through Google’s online advertising platform, your nonprofit can target potential members who are already interested in your organization and its cause. What’s more, thanks to the Google Ad Grant program, you can receive $10,000 a month in free funding to spend on membership marketing ads. With these funds, you can bid on keywords relevant to your mission and create ad copy that directs search users to click through to your membership website information.
There are several specific ways your nonprofit can leverage Google Ads to strengthen its membership program, including:
Since the program’s inception, Google Ad Grants has driven more than 14 billion clicks to nonprofit websites. However, before your nonprofit can start taking advantage of this impactful opportunity, you must determine your eligibility and complete the application process.
Fortunately, there are plenty of resources available to help you tap into Google Ad Grants and make the most of the program. Experts at professional Google Ad Grant agencies can confirm your eligibility, complete your application, optimize your Google Grant account, and run your campaigns. By investing in their support, you won’t have to worry about using your monthly $10,000 to the fullest or maintaining compliance with the program’s requirements.
Promote your nonprofit’s membership program on multiple channels, such as social media, your website, and email, to reach as many potential members as possible. In your marketing materials, highlight the benefits that come with each membership tier.
However, when it comes to members-only content, localize it to just your community engagement platform. By locking select exclusive content behind your membership program, you can entice curious supporters to make the leap from enjoying occasional free content to joining your program.
Keep your membership application form simple and straightforward to reduce abandonment midway through. Follow these basic tips to improve your application process:
Make your membership application easy to access by linking to it in relevant emails and social media posts. If you create direct mail marketing materials, include a QR code that takes recipients directly to the form.
Move on to the next step when: You’ve developed a multi-channel marketing strategy to seek out membership prospects.
Ready to promote your membership website on Google?
Once your new recruits have filled out their application and submitted their first membership fee payment, the membership experience has just begun! To keep your members invested long-term, put together a retention plan.
Follow best practices for retaining existing members, including:
If you can effectively track why people joined your membership program in the first place, you can ensure you do more of it. You don’t want members to lapse because your program isn’t living up to expectations! Send out surveys and engage members in conversation at events.
Automate acknowledgements any time a member participates in membership events, volunteers, renews their membership, or makes an additional donation. Tip: An additional personalized note never hurts! Address it using their first name, and make sure a staff member signs it by hand.
Keep communication lines open with regular newsletters, invitations to membership appreciation events, and information on volunteer opportunities. Use your membership management software to send batch communications to specific member lists or interact with members one-on-one.
Your membership base is one of your program’s most valuable assets. Empower members to build a community by maintaining an online community where they can post content, comment on each other’s posts, and message one another. This can help your members keep in touch between events and ensure they stay engaged all year round.
Automate membership renewals so your members don’t need to worry about remembering to pay their dues. If your software doesn’t offer this feature, send timely reminders when members are close to their membership expiration.
While it’s not always possible, if you can, interview some of your lapsed members. Figure out why they left so that you can make internal improvements and do better for your current members. Send out a survey to those who can’t make it to an interview.
Your membership program is ready to go when: You’ve developed a member retention plan to keep your members engaged with your program long-term.
All your new members will come with a host of information, and you’ll need a way to manage all of it.
Check out our list of the top membership management tools before you purchase your membership management software.
You’ve set up a membership program and have recruited a strong set of new members. What’s next?
Check out these simple steps to boosting member engagement by implementing an effective member retention plan.
If you want to retain members long-term, you’ll need to master the art of the membership renewal letter.
Check out these best practices and top tips for writing a membership renewal letter that will convince your members to keep coming back!
