Association Myths Busted

Here are a few new member myths in the association community that might be wrong.

1. Myth #1: Volunteer member to new member calls work best. Staff calls to new members are actually more effective likely because staff members prioritize time to make the calls and staff know the content and resources available to members.
2. Myth #2: Renewal notices help members decide to renew. New members make their decision to engage and renew within 3 days to 3 weeks after they join. Renewal notices, members say, are reminders.
3. Myth #3: Associations need a sophisticated AMS to do member engagement scoring. There is at least one association that does engagement scoring in Excel so you might not have to wait for a new AMS to get started.
4. Myth #4: A single new member welcome email is sufficient. A robust, well constructed welcome email series yields more new member engagement.
5. Myth #5: Welcome packets are a great way to welcome new members. Many associations report minimal results from welcome kits however onboarding with emails, phone calls, and in in-person events, all drive results.

For more information about how to welcome, onboard, engage, and orient your new members, check out the New Member Engagement Study, a collaboration between Dynamic Benchmarking and me.

Related:

• Do members like association renewal notices?
• The whole conference experience is decided in the first 10 seconds
• That tone could be repelling the very members we are trying to engage