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Last updated
11 May 2001
People join associations for many reasons. Some pay dues expecting something tangible in return. These tangible benefits may be a regular publication, meetings with friends and colleagues, educational opportunities, and in larger associations, access to special insurance plans, credit cards, or other services.
There are also benefits that are not quite so obvious - the intangible benefits. These often get very little promotional effort yet these benefits may be the most important for membership retention. These benefits are those that enhance an individual's sense of worth and community. They arise from a feeling of accomplishment in doing good deeds and from an acceptance by the group. The association can provide a safe environment in which to express oneself and to try new things.
Tangible benefits are a first step in selling membership but they don't encourage involvement in the association. Tangible benefits can also provide an easy way out for association leadership. Put together a newsletter , mail it out: there, we did something, we provided valuable information in a nice glossy package to the members. That just takes a bit of doing. The less tangible benefits take a little more work.
As a leader of your association you are not only a role model for others, you are a mentor and teacher. How you conduct meetings, carry out committee responsibilities, and support the association mission all impact how membership will view the association.
A common method to solicit people to participate in committees or volunteer for projects is to send out a broad appeal. When this gets a minimal response it is assumed that the members aren't interested or are too busy. The "any volunteers out there" approach seldom achieves desired results but is real easy to do so it gets used often. If you need to get a job done, there has to be another way to find the people needed and sign them up.
How do you reach these people? Go fishing. Association leadership should always be aware of members any time there is any type of association gathering. Get to know members on a one-on-one basis. When it comes time to get people involved, think about those members you have been learning about. Focus on a member who seems a likely candidate for the job and give them a call. Talk over the possibilities. When developing potential volunteers for your association consider the following:
Know specifically what you are asking the person to do
Choose the person with the most potential for the specific job, not just the person most willing to do the job.
Be willing to invest some time to inform, encourage, and support someone who has the potential to do the job, especially if that person has not taken an active role in the association previously.
Be flexible - divide the job into smaller components, adjust the time frames, be open to other ways to reach the goals of the job.
Regardless of the size of your association efforts at getting to know your membership should be a priority. Meeting a few members can produce a ripple effect and set an example for those members to get to know other members.
As Mark Levin says in his book Millennium Membership regarding organizations for the 21st century ".. it's not about you. It's not about the organization. It's about the member." Taking a little time to get to know and develop members not only increases the pool of potential active and involved members, it provides those members with opportunities to achieve some of the intangible benefits of membership.
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