4 questions to answer to create a successful membership program for your nonprofit

In order to create a strong membership program, there are  four basic questions you need to be think through in order for things to run smoothly. Knowing the answers will get a new membership program off to a strong start; or help clear up problems in one that is already established. Either way-- whether you are new to membership management or needing to strengthen one you already have, knowing the answers to these questions creates a solid foundation:

• What role do you want people to play in your organization who are not board or staff?

• What should be the base membership fee?

• What benefits should you offer to members?

• How can you best manage joining and expiration of membership?

1.  What role do you want people to play in your organization who are not board or staff?

The answer to this question helps you decide whether you actually need or want a membership program at all! There are many benefits to a membership program but it will also be additional work to keep it running smoothly. Will this extra work be worth it to you?

If you want donors to be involved in your work beyond giving money, then a membership program can help make that happen. The stronger feeling of loyalty someone feels when they see themselves as a member can motivate her to contribute in other ways than money -- she may be willing or even want to be asked to volunteer time, political support, expertise and influence. Do you want or need these any of these things? If so, then consider starting a membership program.

If all you really want is money to do your work, then a membership program may add more work with little added benefit. In that case, look for other ways to make your donors feel special. Donors feel involved and hopefully feel appreciated, but they usually have no expectation of being asked to give anything besides money and feel little ownership of your organization.

2.  What should be the base membership fee?

One good way to decide on the base membership fee is to ask yourself, "what kind of people do we want as members?" Use that answer to decide what those people can afford as a general minimum, and make that amount your base membership fee.

You may have the kind of organization that does not want to ask for a fee at all. For instance, people who live in a particular area of a city are sometimes considered members of a neighborhood association whether or not they have ever been to a meeting or paid any dues. Some organizations also automatically make anyone who donates at a certain level into a member.

You can also set levels of membership to allow for different levels of ownership and involvement. Some typical levels are student, senior, corporate, regular. This allows for people to participate at an appropriate level to their current circumstances and gives you some information on who they are.

3.  What benefits do you offer for membership?

Ask yourself what motivates people to want a membership in your organization and tie the benefits to that. The reasons that people will be motivated to become a member depends on your mission. They may simply want a stronger sense of affiliation with the work you do or gain satisfaction from knowing that they are making a bigger difference. In other cases, members may be looking for concrete benefits, for instance an after-school youth center.

Whatever the mission of an organization, members are usually offered something tangible in return for membership. It may be symbolic or practical. If your organization's mission is to save the rain forests, then a hat with the logo of your organization may be just what people want to advertise their involvement. If your organization provides an after-school youth center, then membership would provide greater access to equipment.

Many memberships offer a newsletter that gives members information that they want and need.  For some, the newsletter is the only benefit offered, and that is quite sufficient.

"When considering which benefits to offer, less may be more at first. You can always add benefits to membership, but you are hard pressed to take them away. So, only promise people what you can actually deliver. Approach this question with a lot of thought on the front end. This will save you time (and grief) later on," cautions fundraising consultant Kim Klein.

In addition, check out tax considerations when deciding on benefits. Certain insubstantial benefits may be offered by organizations without impairing the tax-deduction that may be claimed by people who join.  However, there are very strict limits on what can be considered a tax-deductible benefit, and which benefits need to be dealt with in a different way

4.  How do you manage joining and expiration of membership?

Some organizations keep memberships simple - beginning of year to end of year. In this case, there is often a membership drive at the end of the year where the organization expects to get most of their new members. People who join in between are still members only until the end of the year. Another simple way to handle it is that anyone who gives over a certain amount automatically gets a membership.  Some organizations have memberships that come due 12 months after the donor paid for membership.

Keeping track of a simple membership program that runs the calendar year can be quite easy, and can be managed with the ordinary features of your basic donor management software.  Membership can be determined just by looking at when someone last gave. However, for varying dates of expiration, levels of membership, and a range of benefits, special membership management features are important.

How Membership Management software can help you with your membership program

The FundRaiser Membership Management module is created to help with the details of that make for a successful membership program. It can 

•     Automatically track expiration dates
•     Easily handle membership correspondence including membership renewals, solicitations, and lapsed member letters
•     Personalize your communications so members feel more appreciated
•     Target mailings to segments of your membership to maximize response and minimize your costs
•     Monitor and report on the progress of membership drives and membership level changes as frequently as you want
•     Show appreciation to member solicitors for the specific members they motivated to join

To learn more about how FundRaiser can help you with your membership program

Free FundRaiser Software Evaluation

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All of this information will help us determine which of our software packages will be the best fit for you. Then we'll help you set up a demo and map out a custom evaluation process for you so that you can hit the ground running and meet your implementation goals.

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