membership crossroads

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Membership at the Crossroads

5.23.11

Jay Younger, FASAEManaging Partner & Chief Consultant

McKinley Advisors

Membership is dead!

Long live membership!

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Is the annualized trend in full, paid memberships for your association over the past 5 years:

23%

28%

44%

18%

38%

44%

27%

29%

44%

Flat

Lower

Higher

CESSE 2011 EIA 2010 EIA

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Same trend with 5 year forward-looking estimate

23%

28%

44%

18%

38%

44%

27%

29%

44%

12%

15%

67%

Flat

Lower

Higher

Estimate CESSE 2011 EIA 2010 EIA

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What concerns you most about membership in your association over the next 5 years?

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4

4

6

11

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"Open" Journals / Info

Lack of Employer/Govt funding

Competition

Membership Model

Providing/Communicating value

Aging Membership/Attracting Youth

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Typical age

distribution of an

association’s

membership

TODAY

1%

3%

18%

30%

39%

6%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Under 25

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

65 or older

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Forecast age

distribution for

the same

association in

2025

1%

3%

9%

18%

30%

39%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Under 25

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

65 or older

IN FOCUS

The Membership Value Proposition

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How we look to some…

Pay us in advance so that you’ll have lots more to read and the ability to pay us again for access things that may or may not be relevant for you…

…because it’s the “right thing to do” and you’ll feel guilty if you don’t.

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Customer Value Proposition

Job to be done: solves an important problem or fulfill and important need for the target customer

Offering: satisfies the problem or fulfills the need. This is defined not only by what is sold but also by how it’s sold.

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Living with a mature model

We typically try build our member value proposition around our existing processes and resources…

…this has acute impact on themembership value proposition.

Think about:

Conference committees

Website navigation

Presidential initiatives

Chapter meetings

e-newsletters

Some of our processes and decisions that erode the MVP:

Product development

Pricing

Brand strategy

Incentive compensation

Promotional mix

Technology platforms

Service levels

R&D investment

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Deconstructing the MVP

What within your membership offer:

• Is available EXCLUSIVELY to members?

• Addresses ONE job to be done, not ten?

• Is CHEAPER, FASTER or EASIER to obtain?

• Is relevant to nearly ALL of your target audience?

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The “half full” argument…

• There WILL be markets and potential members to serve in the future.

• Certain membership drivers are ETERNAL.

• Membership growth is a LAG INDICATOR of a viable customer value proposition.

• Our challenge is to create a BALANCED AND COHERENT value proposition for membership.

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Behavioral Drivers

Functional Emotional

Mission Profit

Risk Return

What’s Core

What’s New

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Strategies to Enhance the MVP

• REWORK internal structures

• Seek BALANCE in the MVP

• EXPAND DEPTH within member organizations

• Focus on the USER EXPERIENCE

• Determine what can be made EXCLUSIVE

• Test low/no cost CONTENT alternatives

• TARGET communications (REALLY)

• Invest in MOBILE

• Increase FLEXIBILITY in membership policies

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Let’s talk…