What kind of experience do you craft for your members? If it's been a while since you audited your members' experience, it may be time to take another look. In this article, we'll look at why member experience is so crucial to growing – and maintaining – your membership numbers, and how you can improve it.
Membership programs can improve the health of your organization. Members offer consistent income for your nonprofit and spread awareness as advocates for you and your mission.
But, before membership programs can do all that, you first need to ensure that your nonprofit member experience is top-notch.
Offering a positive member experience is critical to the success of your nonprofit membership program.
Happy and engaged nonprofit members are more likely to remain in the program, leading to higher retention rates. Members who enjoy their experience are also more likely to refer their friends and family.
A positive nonprofit member experience may also lead to extra donations throughout the year, as well as increased engagement. If your supporters feel their membership is valued, they may give back to your organization as volunteers, or agree to join your peer-to-peer campaign.
For nonprofits, such as religious organizations, that rely on regular attendance, keeping members involved and returning is much easier when you offer a great experience.
And all of this leads to more consistent funding for your organization. It enables you to produce more successful programs and fulfill your mission!
But how do you go about improving the nonprofit member experience for your organization? There are several steps you can take – we’ve listed 10 of our favorites here.
A welcome program features a series of communications that is launched when a member joins your organization. Making your members feel valued from the start will create a solid foundation.
Set up an automated welcome email with a thank you, a brief reminder of your mission, the benefits of joining your organization, and a list of upcoming events or volunteer opportunities.
We have written a blog dedicated to welcome letters for new members, which includes 2 free samples: one for churches and another for nonprofits.
If your organization is able, sending a box filled with swag, such as t-shirts and water bottles, is a great way to welcome a new member, and also encourage them to spread awareness.
For top-tier members, it is best to also follow up with a personal phone call from your director or a member of your board, further establishing your budding relationship.
You want to make your nonprofit members feel good about investing in your organization! Do so by building a great case statement; also known as a case for support.
Your case for support should explain your purpose and impact, and show how your nonprofit is unique. You can – and should! – create a unique case for support for various campaigns and programs, including your membership program.
The case statement for your membership program should speak directly to how membership contributions serve your mission, and how your program differs from others.
Learn how to build a case statement for your organization here.
What makes it easier to ensure a positive nonprofit member experience? Enlisting the help of top-of-the-line membership software!
Donorbox Memberships helps you run an excellent membership program with ease. Your organization can offer both monthly and annual memberships, as well as an unlimited number of membership tiers. Donorbox also offers tools that enable you to track membership status, analyze your campaigns, and more. You can easily segment your members and membership payments to create reports or personalize communications.
And your members can easily log in and manage their own membership accounts on Donorbox. That gives them more control over their payments and membership plans.
Getting started is simple – follow these steps to create a successful nonprofit membership program with Donorbox today. For those who are quick visual learners, we have a live demo video for you –
Also, here’s an example of a monthly membership program created on Donorbox, which includes membership tiers that precisely explain the impact each tier would bring to the lives of women.
One way to set your nonprofit membership program apart is to offer premier benefits.
What benefits can only your organization offer? Can you include discounted event tickets or free admission? Meet-and-greets with entertainers at your events, members-only happy hours, and exclusive volunteer opportunities are also great benefits to consider.
Pro tip: Split your benefits into membership levels – or tiers – that encourage members to donate more to receive even better benefits; and thus an improved membership experience! Wadan Worldwide uses the below membership page and form to run its membership program. They have tiers and assigned different names to them. These names can further be used to define the levels of benefits a particular membership tier receives from the nonprofit. It is advisable that you mention that on your membership program page itself to encourage more people to join.
We have another example of how organizations provide benefits to their members. Baton Rouge Gallery offers free entry to their members for their event “Movies & Music on The Lawn”. These are the kinds of benefits that your members would eagerly lap up.
Maintaining consistent and transparent communication with your members is key!
Send regular, members-only emails (or mailed letters, depending on your audience) with updates about your programs, upcoming events, and volunteer opportunities. Showcase your members’ impact through statistics as well as stories about your beneficiaries.
You should also clearly communicate membership fees and what is included in each level. An official nonprofit membership agreement that outlines all of the details of your program will also ensure that all parties know what to expect.
But how often do you need to reach out? Consider what is best for your members as well as what you have the capacity to handle. We recommend sending communications no more than once a week and no less than once a month.
Pro tip: Want better two-way communication on a more frequent basis? Create a members-only Facebook group and encourage members to connect with you and with each other. For example, The Bronx Basketball Hall of Fame runs the below membership program while also maintaining a Facebook group to keep its members engaged with updates, stories, images, and more.
Establishing solid relationships with your members will improve their experience and better ensure that they stay members for years to come.
The first way to do so is to reach out personally – beyond the communications sent to all members. Make it a point to reach out to your members on a periodic basis with a call or email, just to say hello. You may even want to get coffee or grab lunch with members from time to time!
In short, make your members feel like a valuable asset to your organization. Take the time to learn about them, talk to them, and truly form those relationships.
Pro tip: Make sure everyone in your organization tracks each communication with every member in a centralized location. You should also add notes about each member, including everything from family details to interests. Donorbox makes this easy with our donor profiles! You can add communication notes to your supporters’ records (shown below), update donor information whenever you want, and segment these records for personalized communication.
Remember – communication is a two-way street. Be sure to really listen to your members!
If a member reaches out with a question or an issue, respond promptly and show you care. You can also ask members what they think about your membership program by sending out a survey.
However you listen, keep tabs on the general sentiment from your members and adjust as needed. When you are willing to consider and implement changes quickly, you will establish trust.
It’s true with your one-time donors, and it is definitely true with your members – always, always, always say thank you!
Show your gratitude for your members’ generosity every time you connect. But also set aside specific times throughout the year where you say ‘thank you’ without including an ask.
Consider sending a well-designed and thoughtful thank you card to your members at least once a year. Many organizations send these during the December holidays, but you could send yours for Thanksgiving or even Valentine’s Day to set your nonprofit apart.
Pro tip: Handwritten thank yous mean even more than a beautiful card! Set aside time each day to write five to 10 personal notes to members. You can have one of your volunteers do this task on a regular basis.
Becoming involved in your mission and connecting with other members are great ways to improve the nonprofit member experience. When members feel ingrained in your organization, they will be more likely to stay!
Offer volunteer opportunities to your members that will not only enable them to see their donations in action but will help them feel involved on a deeper level.
Offering members-only events with plenty of networking time and designate members-only tables or seats at larger events. Additionally, consider creating a member directory to help them get to know one another.
Your nonprofit should also encourage members to participate in peer-to-peer fundraising. Donorbox makes it simple for you. You can create a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign and invite members to raise funds for you. You can invite them from the tool using their email addresses and names. They will receive email invitations from Donorbox to create their own fundraising pages to start raising funds for you. This involves and engages them better than anything else.
When it’s easy to renew their membership, your members are much more likely to do so! You can automatically renew memberships if you have their information stored, or you can make renewing as simple as clicking a button or placing a phone call.
No matter how your memberships are renewed, make each renewal a celebration! Send consistent reminders leading up to the renewal date, along with notes about how much their membership means to your organization. If you can, offer new benefits, or entice members to move up a level.
Just be sure to remain transparent about membership fees, renewal deadlines, what to do if someone wants to cancel a membership, and how to reach out for questions or assistance.
Creating a positive nonprofit member experience is essential to the success of your membership program. Having happy members can lead to improved member retention rates, additional donations, increased reach among the family and friends of current members, and more.
But what is essential to starting a membership program? Having the tools to back it up! Donorbox offers industry-leading fundraising software, including a membership feature designed to help you build the best nonprofit membership experience possible.
Ready to learn more? Visit donorbox.org and join for free today!
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Kara has several years of experience in communications and marketing for nonprofit organizations. Her love for serving others began while fundraising for and attending mission trips. She then worked with multiple local nonprofits through various marketing agencies and volunteer opportunities before becoming a communications manager at Variety the Children's Charity of St. Louis for more than four years. Kara now specializes in writing and enjoys sharing her experiences and knowledge with others on this platform.
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Kara Schmid