Feature Member of the Month Reshaping Engagement & Upgrades

Ever walk into a local business and see a Take Your Membership Program to the Next Level
photo or wall display celebrating its
How can I convince my members to upgrade? It’s a question that many member-
employee of the month? Borrow this idea
driven organizations ask themselves, for which few seem to have a definitive answer.
to highlight and celebrate your members.
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh used to follow a traditional museum upgrade
Creating a member-of-the-month
model. In other words, they tried to convert single memberships into dual
feature for your publication, website
memberships, and dual memberships into family memberships and so on. The
and/or membership headquarters is a
approach seemed foolproof enough, until they took time to consider the factors
fun way to help members get to know
that surround one’s decision to engage at higher levels. If a couple has no children,
each other while creating another avenue
does it make sense for them to upgrade to a family model? In many ways, this
for staff and members to interact.
longstanding approach was causing the four entities under the Carnegie Museums
Choose the featured member at
umbrella to miss out on valuable opportunities.
random, being sure not to repeat members.
“You can’t just aim to have everyone upgrade to a family membership,” says Steve
Then create a lighthearted three- to five-
Jacobson, CEO of JCA, a nonprofit consulting firm. “You need to understand what the
question mini survey for the member to
households look like, explore engagement and create messages that resonate with
answer. Include in your display the person’s
different kinds of members.” In order to do this effectively, Jacobson assisted Carnegie
answers, photo and information about his/
Museums’ Associate Vice President of Engagement, Cari Maslow, with feeding member
her business and personal life.
information from the museums’ ticketing, membership and fundraising systems into one
Present the chosen member with a
data warehouse using the firm’s tool, JCA Answers. “Members who go to the Natural
certificate as a keepsake.
History Museum were obviously going to have different engagement than those who
Members will appreciate the
went solely to the Andy Warhol Museum, but having this information in one place
recognition, visitors to your organization
allowed us to recognize shared traits,” Jacobson says.
and website will learn how much you
Having member insights in one central location enabled Jacobson and Maslow
appreciate members and staff will connect
to create four different member quadrants based on the kinds of relationships that
with your members in a new way.
exist: philanthropic, highly engaged, minimally engaged and at-risk. “Ultimately we
found that many of these members wanted to be involved more heavily, even when a
THE MEMBERSHIP MANAGEMENT REPORT, family-plus membership didn’t necessarily resonate,” Jacobson says. “The members
(Online ISSN: 2325-8640), is published monthly by
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., a Wiley Company, who were less engaged were subjected to additional outreach and offers prior to
111 River St., Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 USA.
Copyright and Copying (in any format): Copyright © 2018
renewal time to improve potential outcomes.”
Wiley Periodicals, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this Engagement grids and “velocity scores” were used to determine which members
publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in
any form or by any means without the prior permission were on the rise, would make the best candidates for upgrades and would be most
in writing from the copyright holder. Authorization likely to make an additional gift. “We divided a member’s latest gift by the average
to photocopy items for internal and personal use is
granted by the copyright holder for libraries and other gift amounts of the prior three years to determine whose velocities were decelerating
users registered with their local Reproduction Rights
Organisation (RRO), e.g. Copyright Clearance Center
and accelerating,” Jacobson says. “These findings helped shape different follow-up
(CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, tactics, from incentivized renewal solicitation to wealth screening and discovery
USA (www.copyright.com), provided the appropriate
fee is paid directly to the RRO. This consent does not calls.” Other factors like event participation, member visitation, retail sales and
extend to other kinds of copying such as copying for constituent appeals were used to craft new engagement efforts.
general distribution, for advertising and promotional
purposes, for republication, for creating new collective Ultimately, understanding how a member engages with an organization should
works or for resale. Permissions for such reuse can be
obtained using the RightsLink “Request Permissions”
influence upgrade and renewal-related messaging. Now Maslow’s team targets
link on Wiley Online Library. Special requests should candidates from the non-upgrade group with targeted additional gift requests
be addressed to: permissions@wiley.com.
Disclaimer: The Publisher and Editors cannot be held instead. Minimally engaged members and non-renewers are being actively
responsible for errors or any consequences arising from encouraged to visit and surveyed about their decision to end membership. This
the use of information contained in this journal; the views
and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of information will help Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh continue to grow their
the Publisher and Editors, neither does the publication
of advertisements constitute any endorsement by the
membership. “It’s all about finding different paths and building those benefits into
Publisher and Editors of the products advertised. the appeals,” Jacobson says.
Wiley’s Corporate Citizenship initiative seeks to address
the environmental, social, economic, and ethical Source: Steven G. Jacobson, CEO, JCA, New York, NY. Phone (212) 981-8405. E-mail: steve.
challenges faced in our business and which are important jacobson@jcainc.com. Website: www.jcainc.com
to our diverse stakeholder groups. Since launching the
initiative, we have focused on sharing our content with
those in need, enhancing community philanthropy, Honing Your Skills
reducing our carbon impact, creating global guidelines
and best practices for paper use, establishing a vendor
code of ethics, and engaging our colleagues and other
Three Public Speaking Tips
stakeholders in our efforts. Follow our progress at www.
wiley.com/go/citizenship. Here are three proven techniques for improving your presentation skills:
Editor: Scott C. Stevenson
Production Editor: Mary Jean Jones 1. Grab audience attention early on with humorous, dramatic or flattering remarks,
Editorial Correspondence: Scott C. Stevenson, The but don’t offend anyone.
Membership Management Report
For submission instructions, subscription and all other 2. Following opening remarks, move straight to the heart of your presentation.
information visit: wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/mmr.
Interject personal stories and examples to help the audience grasp your message.
3. End with concluding remarks that contain a closing story or summary of points
covered in the body of your presentation.
2 The Membership Management Report © 2018 View this newsletter online at wileyonlinelibrary.com DOI: 10.1002/MMR