Every Friday, AuSAE hosts a weekly catch up with our members to touch base “in person” with their association peers.
During last Friday’s Member Meeting we discussed membership renewals and what strategies associations are implementing as they approach their renewal process.
The below is a quick summary of the discussions that we had online:
- The importance of having individual discussions where possible with members. A few attendees in Friday’s meeting shared their surprise that although their members are in incredibly tough positions at the moment, they see the value in their association membership now more than ever so still happy to renew.
- An echoed voice in the chat room that Associations have never been needed more. And the importance of communicating that value with members and updating them on new initiatives and your advocacy efforts during this period.
- We heard from a few members on the changes/modelling they have looked at in regards to membership renewals and what they are looking to implement:
- Extending membership period – 3 months, 6 months
- Membership discount
- Deferring 100% of membership fees by a quarter period, invoice will still go out at the scheduled time in May however members can choose to pay the invoice in September
- Offering 3-month membership packages attached with a strong value proposition as we move through this period
- Shift to subscription membership, paying per month
- For associations that offer insurance, a member shared that they are deferring payment of insurance until 1 October.
- Offering Financial Hardship Packages to members on a case by case analysis
- We also briefly discussed non-member acquisition campaigns during this period – a few associations are offering their COVID-19 resources and information to members and non-members. There is also an option to create a digital membership/subscription for access to online learning during this time. We also discussed the option to open up your base level of membership complimentary for a period of time to give the sector a look into your membership offering.
