Mix It Up With MMM. (March Membership Month) A sampling of membership recruitment tactics community associations are using to mix it up!

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1 Mix It Up With MMM (March Membership Month) A sampling of membership recruitment tactics community associations are using to mix it up!

2 Features: Door-to-Door Membership Drives Community Partnerships Purchasing Incentives Feedback & Convenient Purchasing Determining Membership Value Event Platforms Tips & Tricks Make your Door-to-Door Membership Drive Manageable Lakeview Community Association has been doing an annual door-to-door membership drive since the 1960 s. The drive takes place each May and runs for six weeks. Over 700 memberships were sold during the 2012 door-to-door drive! The reason their drive runs so smoothly is because they have made it extremely manageable. How? See their tips below: Print community maps and colour code reasonable, walkable zones. The City of Calgary has an interactive map available to print off, as well as zoom in to see specific areas. Check it out here. Pull up a list of community members and match their address to a colour coded zone. This not only allows them to walk the area they live, but also provides a familiar face for people to open their door to. For example: If you need a volunteer for a certain block, scan your membership list for someone who lives on that block and ask them if they d be willing to talk to their neighbours about joining their community association. Make the door-to-door campaign simple and you ll increase your chances of volunteers returning each year. Additional Door-to-Door Considerations: Provide simple, one-page quick facts for volunteers to help with key talking points. Offer reasonable size takeaways to leave with residents. Too many handouts will overwhelm and deter from reading. Create easy mail-in forms or other instructions (how to pay online) to accommodate different payment options.

3 Incorporate Community Partners into Membership Value Marlborough Park Community Association has strong relationships with a variety of local franchises who offer generous discounts to members of the association. Franchises like Dairy Queen have offered this Marlborough Park community member discount for over a decade. Other stores like Mark s Work Warehouse even provide a community member discount card, personalizing the experience. Marlborough Park members also receive discounts at other local hot-spots like Subway and Optics Plus. See their tips on how to set up partnerships in your community: Start the conversation! It can be that simple. Local businesses help make up a community and impact the quality of life, so keep them engaged. Franchise owners are often community residents too and are happy to help support the local community association. Have regular conversations about local partnerships at community meetings/events. You might be surprised how many valuable connections there are within your own organization. Offer Incentives for Purchasing Memberships Hidden Valley Community Association introduced creative incentives for purchasing an annual membership during a specific month of the year and had major success! Check out the incentives below: Since sports registration begins in February, Hidden Valley offers members a discounted rate for purchasing/renewing membership in January. Additionally, the community association offers a draw prize for anyone who purchases a membership during the month of January. This year all members who purchased a membership in January were entered into a draw for a cooking demo for eight people by a local chef from within the community. Through offering both a discounted rate and an exciting draw prize, Hidden Valley saw over 100 memberships purchased this January, compared to the 30 purchased in January of 2012.

4 Ask for Feedback & Offer Convenient Purchasing Methods Scenic Acres Community Association has increased their community outreach efforts, gaining further insight into what their residents are interested in. These outreach efforts have positively impacted their community memberships. Find out what they are below: Ask for Feedback The community association recently began surveying its members on what kinds of programs they would like to see introduced at the community hall. Over 160 community members responded to the survey and as a result, yoga and zumba classes were introduced at the community hall. By introducing programs residents asked for, community memberships to participate increased. Offer Convenient Purchasing Methods Scenic Acres upgraded their POS (point of sale) debit and credit machine to a wireless model so they can take it to community events and make purchasing memberships instant and easy. Determine What Community Membership Means in Your Organization Strathcona Christie Aspen Community Association asked themselves this exact question, and decided that the revenue from selling memberships was not as important to their organization as offering residents the feeling of belonging. So what did they do? See below: After agreeing on what they believe mattered most, the community association reduced their basic membership fee to only $5 per family! This rate is made possible by allocating revenue from hall rentals toward community events. Strathcona Christie Aspen have since increased their membership numbers and are pleased to have thriving events (For example: A Spaghetti Dinner followed by a family friendly movie night) where a membership requirement makes a low membership fee easy to sell at the door! ** Membership fees are set by each individual organization; this example is not being provided as a recommendation to lower your fees, but simply a great example of how important it is for every community association to address the value of their membership.

5 Use Event Platforms to Showcase Value & Offerings Northern Hills Community Association has established a popular community event called the Harvest Moon Dance Fundraiser, an all-out community celebration with live music, dancing, contests, various auctions, door prizes, food and more! This is a ticketed event ($25 for members, $35 for non-members) that also serves as a call-to-action: public invitations specify that funds raised are put towards developing and sustaining programs and activities in the community! Information that is included with the event promotions includes: Value offered in the members discounted rate. Specification that funds raised support local community association programs, services and assets. A list of those programs, services and assets, including behind the scenes highlights that show how the community association works to address matters of importance and improve their communities quality of life (for example: planning committee working with The City of Calgary). Varying levels of donation and sponsorship to give options for public or business participation. Additional Membership Recruitment Tips & Tricks Give discounts and/or first-time membership deals exclusive event access, etc. Launch a Member-of-the-Month Program, recognizing members through a showcase that gives them visibility. Communicate teasers of what s to come next year if members join or renew. Form a member services committee to generate ideas, survey members and/or community residents, expand new membership growth and keep retention high. Explore types of member benefits with staff and key members to analyze benefits you currently offer and create new ones that are cost effective and attractive! Please contact Member Services at (403) ext. 202 or memberservices@calgarycommunities.com for more information on: Any of the community examples in this document Step-by-step instructions on how to run a door-to-door membership drive General information on membership recruitment and retention Additionally, visit for more membership recruitment resources.

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