04/25/2019

An Engaged Member is a Retained Member

Taking members’ pulse on critical issues is vital

As the new Managing Director for Europe for the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) and the former General Manager at the International Association of Young Lawyers, much of my day-to-day involves planning and executing the best experience for association members. As associations look to maintain strong membership year over year, member engagement is often the difference between whether someone will renew his or her membership or become a lapsed member. An engaged member is a retained member.

In my 15 years as an association leader, here are some of the ways I have learned to engage your membership:

Take members’ pulse on critical issues
The first step towards engaging members is knowing what matters to them. Membership surveys are a valuable tool to gauge what issues are top of mind and how members like to interact with the association and each other. In addition to regular full-membership surveys, segmented “flash polls” are a less formal way to generate almost instant feedback. Recently, ACC created a two-question survey for our Canadian members regarding the program theme they’d most like to see at our annual Canadian conference. Gathering this intelligence was fast and free, and helped us make an important decision.

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