Leadership Training & Development Growing Your Membership Super Conference

Leadership Training & Development

Growing Your Membership

Super Conference



Perceived value, image, and reputation are key

Members are the lifeblood of any organization. Without members, the organization’s mission and purpose cannot be effectively realized. Nonprofit organizations are better positioned to attract new members if they demonstrate consistent adherence to their mission, while delivering ongoing value to their members.

These organizations must provide certain tangible benefits such as education, certification, and advocacy, and intangible benefits such as networking, peer group collaboration and interaction, in order to deliver value to their members.

The ability of your organization to grow its membership can be a function of the perceived value it delivers, as well as its reputation, and the image it promotes.

By providing industry insight and thought leadership, and by delivering greater

value to its members, your organization will be better positioned to attract new members.




The Sons of The American Legion (S.A.L) Detachment of California believes in the “Every Person Counts” membership philosophy. Each time we can interact with a member and help them, our interaction has positive ramifications far past that one member. Members have feedback and ideas about what their organization can be doing better or differently. As the S.A.L of California we also endeavor to communicate with members and potential members on aone-on-one basis and make every effort to provide the most personalized, customized service in every way possible.

Here are a few tips to help you grow your membership today:




Tip #1: Develop a Leadership Campaign

Thought leadership campaigns will directly impact member satisfaction by delivering practical and tangible value. It will also be a significant factor in growing your membership. Your organization can structure and implement a through leadership campaign by:

• Identifying and publishing best practices – become recognized as a source forcutting-edge and useful methodologies and practices that members can use tobecome more successful.

• Developing training and tools – making these resources available and accessible will deliver tangible and exceptional value to members and will help attract new

members in becoming more successful.



Perceived value, image, and reputation are key Tip #2: Protect and Promote Your Brand

Think of your brand as something vital to your organization. Its health and well-being distinguishes your organization and acts as a lightening rod for attracting new members, as well as maintaining the loyalty of your members. Your brand doesn’t come from a marketing message or campaign. A brand should reflect your organization’s personality, purpose, and health. Simply put, your brand is you.

Protecting and promoting your brand will:• Define your mission and purpose• Help your audience connect with you• Establish and build your overall credibility and reputation• Convey your industry participation, support, and leadership• Validate and encourage ongoing member support• Attract potential members that want to succeed• Attract sponsors



Perceived value, image, and reputation are key Tip #3: Seek Expert Advice

Call in the experts. Get advice from outside your organization on key issues and initiatives. Send leaders, committee and staff members to professional development seminars and have them report back to share their respective learning experience. It is critical to find a meaningful way to continually share insights and opportunities with your members. Conduct research to help identify member wants and needs, and to identify their perception of whichorganizations you compete with. This is a specific area that the S.A.L Detachment of California can help your organization with today!



Perceived value, image, and reputation are key Tip #4: Communicate your value

Members and potential members care about your image, performance, and value. They want to believe that your organization is the best at what you do. Communicating your intentions and activities will strengthen your image and drive interest in your organization.

Understanding and communicating what they care about does not need to be difficult or expensive. It is critical that what you communicate be accurate and consistent. Be sure to include tangible details about your approach, performance and effectiveness.

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Fulfilling the needs and expectations of your members is essential for Growth

Nonprofit organizations are challenged to grow their membership, to increase their value, and to keep their current members interested. The dilution of traditional value propositions, combined with the fact that prospective members have a growing number of options for getting education, networking, and advocacy for their careers, makes increasing members a challenging task for most organizations.

It stands to reason that any organization capable of addressing the practical needs of its members and effectively fulfilling their expectations can derive growth in:1. Membership

2. Participation

3. Brand identity

4. Word of mouth




So why aren’t more nonprofit organizations successfully growing their membership? So many times, the reason is that few organizations develop and successfully Implement member acquisition strategies, and most do not make member retention a priority.

Targeted marketing plans address the current needs of organizations and are frequently in need of updating as conditions change.

The best marketing plans are supported by a budget and are purposefully planned and executed with specific results in mind.

An important point to remember is that your organization’s success in growing itsmembership depends on fulfilling the needs and expectations of your current members first.




The S.A.L of the Detachment of California believes that it is vital to work very closely with the Membership Committees of the Squadron, District and Areas. In our work with these sister organizations, we strive to position benefits to members from the members’ perspective and market them accordingly. The

most beneficial member programs include these elements:• Education and professional development• Information, research and statistics• Standards, codes of ethics, and certification• Face-to-face or virtual forums to discuss common problems and solutions• Service and mission-orientation• Providing a sense of community, a network, a “home”, an identity, and an

opportunity for participation




We also believe that this presents a great opportunity for organizations to demonstrate the importance of “outcome thinking” as it pertains to members.Outcome thinking causes the Membership Committee to review member benefits as being related to the value that the member places on the services of the organization as opposed to merely reviewing the features of the organization.

Here are four areas that your organization must address in order to develop meaningful membership growth:

1. Member acquisition: identify your target markets; develop a marketing strategy and an implementation plan; include brand awareness, initiatives,

Appropriate messaging, and the development of marketing and communications tactics; measure results.




2. Member servicing: develop and deploy desired member products and services; communicate the value of membership; quickly address all member issues and feedback; study member attitudes and preferences before developing meetings, education, research, or communications.

3. Member retention: keep member records current; issue and process renewals in a timely fashion; interview lapsed members; communicate regularly; conduct research to obtain current member attitudes and preferences.

4. Member engagement: keep your members engaged; identify and promoteopportunities for member participation; the more engaged a member is with theorganization, the more value that member derives from their membership; ongoing study and measurement of member engagement is essential.

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Growing Your Membership Steps for successful Membership engagement.

If your organization isn’t growing it will become irrelevant and fade away. The key to remember is that members trust those organizations that provide unique, compelling, relevant, and practical products and services.

You can apply the same rule to individuals as well: stop growing and you will become less valuable to your organization, profession, community, and the world you live in.

Your organization can measure engagement in revenue, satisfaction, participation, idea generation, retention, or in how many are willing to personally pay to join or remain a member.

The Sons of the American Legion Detachment of California has a bias for action and recognizes that organizations rely heavily on both marketing and technology to advance their mission.



Our senior officers are skilled and experienced in these areas and we are working to create new plans for members that produce expected results. These plans are rooted in our Leadership Training which calls for:

• Beginning with a strategic alignment

• Mobilizing with a method

• Accelerating to maintain momentum

• Governing to gain results



Beginning with a strategic alignment

Strategic alignment is an intense hands-on business redesign process, in which you align your strategic goals, your business model and processes, and organizations culture with your key business purpose and core values.




The Impact of Strategic (Mis)Alignment...

Good strategic alignment has an amazing effect on organizational performance. People perform better when they fully understand and accept the purpose and goals of their organization, and they develop a better sense of ownership when they understand what difference they make in achieving those goals.





On the other hand, lack of strategic alignment is one of the major causes for organizations to fail. Many organizations over time lose track of their key business purpose; they find it hard to answer the question: "Why are we in business?". This seems like a simple question with a simple answer; in reality however all too many organizations have lost sight of their key business purpose.





Often this is caused by growth and diversification, often by shareholder centered rather than customer centered behavior, often because the self centered rather than customer centered objectives of top management blur the focus. As a result of this the strategic goals, business processes and organizational culture become misaligned, employees lose their focus, and customers lose their faith.





The impact of strategic alignment is very well demonstrated by the striking difference in performance between two of the largest airliners in the USA:




The Impact of Strategic (Mis)Alignment...Southwest Airlines is probably one of the most striking examples of a company that (a) defined a very clear and simple key business purpose, (b) chose the right business model to support the business purpose, and (c) consistently demonstrates the core values and behaviors derived from that key business purpose.

The brand promise of Southwest Airlines is 'Dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit'. Every single employee of the company is aligned with this brand promise, and in spite of the current economic turmoil in the airline industry Southwest's performance in 2008 was among the best in the industry. Staff morale is exceptionally high.





Northwest Airlines is the striking opposite, and an example of a poorly aligned organization with low staff morale, occupied in a constant struggle against bankruptcy. Northwest's brand promise is 'Safety. Reliability. Comfort. Fairness. Courtesy. Honesty', followed by a page long sum up of promises of which very few are made true to customers. Employees don't seem to be involved in the brand promise, and everyone who has traveled with Northwest can account for the personal indifference and the lack of fairness and courtesy many of the staff demonstrate



Mobilizing with a method

Organizational mobilization is based on a high level of member participation, which occurs when organizational members taking part in identification of problems and needs, and then plan, implement, monitor and evaluate organizational activities to solve the identified problem.

The fundamental principle that you always need to remember is that you are not there to ‘enforce’ member participation. Your role is to facilitate the exploration, to learn from member wisdom, and to educate and persuade organizational members to bring about the necessary changes — in this case to improve membership outcomes. The final word and the final decision always belong to the members.



Accelerating to maintain momentum

The ability to manage momentum is a critical determining factor in which organizations succeed and which fail. Knowing when to hit the gas and when to ease up is as important as knowing where your organization is heading. Even the best strategy won’t see you through if you don’t know when to invest or ramp up.

Do you hesitate instead of making an assertive move? Missing the opportunity window drains you of momentum, giving someone else an edge. At the same time, a rash decision can backfire if you fail to consider the full impact on your organization.




The trick is to maintain control over both the direction and magnitude that create momentum. Stopping too soon will rob your organization of the energy that is vital to starting the next big climb. An abrupt shift in direction to regain the perception of control can cause your organization to get dangerously off track.




Three Keys to Managing Momentum

1. Enjoy the ride when you have the opportunity, without hitting the brakes too hard. Keep the momentum going even when things are a little scary.

2. When times are good, don’t coast too long or you’ll miss out on creating the stored energy that’s critical to keeping your organization going through the peaks and valleys.

3. Don’t be afraid to use momentum when you need it to power through the tough times. You’ll build more reserves later.



Governing to gain results

Governing to gain results (GGR) is a way to recast planning, budgeting, management, and reporting in direct relation to what the organization wants (or is expected) to accomplish. The ideas behind GGR are basic: to identify the needs a organization is trying to address; to develop an overall plan

(mission, goals, objectives, and strategies) for addressing those needs; to come up with policies, programs, and services to meet those needs; to organize and implement budgeting, accounting, and management systems

that support the strategies, goals, and objectives laid out in the overall plan; and finally to develop and track cost and performance data that allow the

organization to gauge its progress in reaching its goals and objectives, and tweaking (or changing) strategies, programs, policies, management systems, or budgets when necessary.



Regarding member retention, better communication and demonstrated improved member value are the most common drivers of increased member retention. Some popular tactics include:

• Heightened visibility with a focus on member value• An increase in local events and more member engagement• Sound relationships with sections, Squadrons, Districts and Areas• Increased brand awareness• Engagement with new professionals in their initial two years of practice• Targeted marketing and communications efforts• More consistent follow-up by membership staff• Telephone calls with key contacts• Increased touch points and personalized mailings• Increasing the value/relevancy proposition• Connecting with members throughout the year• Improved web visibility• Increased member-only benefits• Deploying technology in new ways to retain and increase membership



Member engagement is better measured by the way your members make use of their participation experiences to achieve their professional/personal goals.

The more purposeful their interaction is, the higher its value, the higher the perceived value, the greater the level of their engagement and satisfaction!



The most successful organizations included the following in designing their member experiences:

• Focus on unmet member needs first, not new ideas• Engage methods that leverage member empathy (create an emotional context)• Focus on the member’s journey and not your interpretation of their journey• Identify and leverage both organization and member moments of truth• Rapid product and service response to member wants and needs• Encourage open innovation of product and service – always include the member• Develop a unique value network of influencers and resources (broaden your perspective) • Promote evidence of your brand’s attributes• Use storytelling to convey your brand’s attributes, value, and the member experience



Members Choose to Participate in Different Ways

Most of your members will choose to participate differently than those fully engaged with the organization giving their time freely in support of your goals.

The classic adoption cure shows the majority will engage only after a tipping point occurs. Therefore, it is critical to develop member engagements that create diverse tipping points for your members.



Here are some steps to consider in building member engagement:

1. Encourage your members to recruit one new member a year.

2. Provide your members with recruitment tools.

3. Direct your members to encourage their prospect to attend the upcoming annual meeting, convention, etc.

4. Encourage your members to become "mentors" for their new member prospects. 5. Identify the primary reason each new member joined the organization, invite them to participate on the committee that best matches their interest. Attempt to learn of all referral sources.



6. Encourage new members to complete a Relationship Value Update every quarter for the first year and yearly after that. The update should ask three simple questions:

• What value are you receiving from your membership?

• What value do you believe you are delivering to the organization?

• How can we deliver even more value to you?



7. Disseminate the results of the Relationship Value Update to the membership committee, elected officers, and involved staff. 8. Keeping your members engaged over the long-term. Do not assume that your longstanding members no longer need to receive value. Members at every stage of their membership lifecycle need to receive value from their membership. 9. Be responsible and prudent financial stewards. Showing financial health will go a long way in fostering continued member trust and engagement. 10. Encourage and facilitate member driven communities based on reciprocity and shared interests. Member developed communities will continually engage your members. They deliver high-levels of value for time spent and are essential for retaining and attracting member engagement.



The key is to determine what members want versus that for which they are willing to pay. Some guidelines in this regard are asked with the following questions:• Can your organization deliver traditional services in a new way?

• Can your organization deliver member benefits 24/7?

• Does your organization have the ability to keep members informed of breaking developments and also do you offer members informationalresources and tools?

• Does your organization consistently deliver a higher level of services that are more personal such as assistance with unique problems or industry/professional expertise? • Does your organization price your membership offerings just right, to grow the number of members who would likely participate?



The bottom line is to be relevant to the people who are willing to spend money on member dues and create an environment where the members feel that they must belong!

About The DetachmentThe Sons of the American Legion Detachment of California supports mission-oriented Squadrons, Districts and Areas assisting them in increasing relevance and accomplishing their goals.

Our senior officers bring extensive association management and corporate experience to all of our organizations. We understand membership organizations and their respective needs in this challenging business environment. We offer insight and apply innovative techniques to achieve desired results and to better serve our Members.



We also know that trust is most valued when it is earned.

Our goal is for all sister organizations to function at the highest levels by incorporating tactics that ensure continuity and delivered results.

We encourage you to visit our website to learn more about our services at: ADD OUR PR AND WEB ADDRESS.

Questions

You have just completed Leadership Training & Development




Relationship Value Update Form

• What value are you receiving from your membership?

• What value do you believe you are delivering to the organization?

• How can we deliver even more value to you?

Documents

Leadership Training & Development Growing Your Membership Super Conference