Your nonprofit recently got its membership program up and running. New members are signing up regularly, current members are engaged, and your most devoted participants are spreading the word about your organization to friends and family.
Even when the program is going this well, it’s crucial to prioritize member retention efforts. Member retention refers to how many current members choose to renew their membership each year. While there is not one right way to retain members, some specific methods can help your organization effectively communicate the value of its membership program.
In this guide, we’ll cover some of the top ways to convey this value and entice members to renew.
1. Offer Membership Tiers
Membership tiers offer distinct benefits at varying donation levels. For example, your nonprofit might offer bronze, silver, and gold memberships. The gold membership would have the highest and the most perks or benefits. These options give members multiple engagement opportunities, allowing them to choose their commitment level. The additional perks associated with upper tiers can also motivate members to upgrade their membership in the future.
When creating membership tiers, remember to:
Align offerings with member preferences. To ensure your members subscribe to the tiers, offer benefits that are valuable to them. Consider asking members via surveys and analyzing past engagement data to determine their preferences. Common perks include priority access to events, member-only content, free merchandise, and free passes to visit facilities.
Clearly communicate value. Make a unique value proposition that motivates members to remain enrolled in the program or upgrade their membership. Highlight the rewards or privileges that are exclusive to members to incentivize them to renew.
Differentiate tiers. Offer a range of benefits clearly showing the differences between basic and premium tiers. For example, an exotic animal rescue that gives tours of the facility to visitors might offer five free tickets to the basic tier, ten to the middle tier, and unlimited to the premium tier.
Managing these tiers can become complicated without the right technology. Use a capable CRM that accurately tracks which members belong to each tier and delivers benefits. You can also use a membership management program that’s native to your CRM and can effectively organize tiered subscriptions, upgrades, and discounts. Consider working with a professional tech consultant to ensure you get the most out of your investment in these technologies.
2. Highlight Your Members
Make your members feel special by spotlighting them on social media or reserving a place on your website for member recognition. Recognizing members fosters a sense of belonging, shows that you value and appreciate them, and makes them feel like an integral part of your organization. Create a schedule for these recognition efforts to highlight as many members as possible.
Go beyond short, generic posts about the member by conducting short interviews and writing about the member’s experiences with your nonprofit. Ask how they found your organization, why they’re a member, and what motivates them to continue supporting your cause. To make your writing more impactful, reference insights about the member from your CRM. For example, explain that the member recently reached their tenth year as a donor.
3. Listen to Concerns and Address Them
Your members are a valuable source of information. When you foster a culture of open communication, members will share constructive feedback that helps you improve the program for current and future members. Use your CRM to organize members’ suggestions in a structured format and identify common trends.
Once you’ve collected members’ feedback, implement their suggestions when possible. For example, is your website tough to navigate? Listen to your members’ feedback and update your website accordingly. Do you get regular emails about passwords not working or registration forms being hard to fill out? Research new platforms that could make those processes easier. If you can’t address a concern right away, follow up with the member, explaining why or providing a timeline for when you’ll make the change.
4. Offer Promotions
Discounts can encourage members to stay with your organization. Look for promotional opportunities that provide value for your members and align with your organization’s mission and budget.
Here are some tips for making this strategy as effective as possible:
Offer discounts before and after the renewal period. Obviously, discounts can nudge members closer to renewing before their subscription expires. However, you can also share promotions with lapsed members to make them reconsider (e.g., offer expired members $25 off their next membership package if they renew).
Advertise the promotion in your membership renewal letters. Using your membership management technology, you can set up automated renewal reminders that deploy before a member’s subscription lapses. Update these letters with exclusive offers to increase the chance of members renewing.
Instill a sense of urgency. Attach a time constraint to your offers to motivate members to take action quickly. For example, offer 25% off the membership fee if they renew within the next week.
You can also encourage members to renew and attract new members through referral programs. If a member successfully refers a new member to your program, offer them special discounts or rewards.
5. Get Personal
Making a personal connection with someone can make a big difference in that person’s decision to renew or let their membership expire. Some of the ways your nonprofit can make personal connections with members include:
One-on-one outreach and engagement: Speak to members personally through phone calls, face-to-face meetings, emails, or handwritten letters. Encourage them to renew and build meaningful relationships with individual members.
Personalized communications: Members want to receive messages that are relevant to their interests. Use member data to create audience personas or segment members based on demographics, psychographics, interests, giving history, communication preferences, and more. Then, craft tailored messages for each segment or audience based on these findings.
Member appreciation events: Hold gatherings to show your gratitude and celebrate members’ support. These events allow members to connect with one another and your staff, deepening their connection and loyalty to your organization.
A robust CRM like Nonprofit Cloud will help your nonprofit organize and execute personalized member experiences. According to Fíonta, this CRM is designed “to help nonprofits strengthen their programs, learn and grow from data, and provide personalized experiences.”
6. Provide Networking Opportunities
One of the values of an organizational membership is having the opportunity to build professional relationships with people in your industry. Fonteva’s member engagement guide explains that networking can help members learn and grow with like-minded people, advance their careers, and feel like part of a growing community.
Host in-person or virtual events to let your members talk with and get to know your team. These events can be hosted by your team or a guest speaker and can vary on the formality spectrum from suit and tie to more casual. Use technology to organize an online member portal and directory so supporters can access members-only communities and connect with peers.
For these retention strategies to be effective, it’s key to use them regularly. The right technology helps you stay connected with your members through data analytics, personalized communications, and automated workflows. This way, your membership program will stay at the top of your members’ minds, and they’ll feel driven to renew each year.
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