Page 30 - 2018 September Voices

FROM THE FIELD

The Nine Stages of

Membership Growth

Kevin Cahalane

This article was originally published on LinkedIn in May, 2017. The author shares tips for membership
growth and reention. As Toastmasters is in the middle of another renewal cycle, I found the article relevant
and his suggestions easy to implement. Reprinted here by permission.

In all the work I have done, with numerous • your USP (unique selling proposition) and

Not-for-Profit organizations, over the last few how you ‘package’ your organization.
years . . . I have found that it is absolutely essential There are a number of other components
to look at each stage of the membership growth to attain resonance, however you need to keep
‘cycle’, set objectives and strategies for each one— promoting your organization both to your

that interacts with the other stages. membership base and to prospective members—
Two examples of how cycles don’t work on your website, via your social media strategies,
together: your events—everything you do should be fully
You have a recruitment objection based on a promoted far and wide.

10% growth in your membership, in a year. You
have a retention objective of 90%. Result: Zero Recruitment—
growth. • Setting SMART member recruitment
You want to grow your revenue by 15% in objectives (specific, measurable, achievable

a given year, but your retention strategies are but challenging, relevant and timeframe
more ‘miss’ than ‘hit’— dissatisfied members, lax driven).
member communication, and a general drop in • Research and develop more member
member service standards. Result: Revenue falls. acquisition channels (I call it the ‘MAC

Here are the nine steps that I sincerely attack’) where you will build your prospect
believe need to work together (synergy) in base.
complimenting each other (harmony): • Build a prospect sales funnel and drive
membership prospects to it – in corporate

Resonance—The ‘sonic boom’ effect you terms we call this ‘drill wide – drill deep’.
create about your organization: Your purpose in the recruitment stage is to
• your branding; gain prospects, qualify these prospects and turn
•
your marketing and promotion; these qualified prospects into members, in a

30 ONE COMMUNITY