I was invited through Memnet to take part in a Benchmarking Survey for membership organisations the other day. In a previous life, I ran over 50 surveys asking users of document management software about their business issues and the efficacy of their software solutions, so this one piqued my interest. We always took care to provide value to the respondent of a survey - to make it worth their while. Sure enough, these well thought out questions read almost as a management checklist for good practice and innovative marketing ideas. You can take the survey here though it may well have closed when you read this, so here is a list of the questions. 

As a starting point, I was interested to see the sheer range of membership organisations listed, from professional bodies and institutes, through trade associations and local business groups, charities and lobby groups, social clubs, fan clubs, sports clubs and religious groups. When I tell people what I do, it's this wide range of interests under the generic term "associations and charities" that kicks off the conversation, and I can honestly say that I have had interest in Wild Apricot from almost all these types of organisation.  But despite this variety, most of the questions in the survey describe the same issues faced by all membership organisations. 

As fuel for your annual offsite strategy meeting, there are some great questions in the survey. "What do you believe are the main reasons members join your organisation?" is a great starting point, and likely to show very different perceptions across trustees, managers and operational staff.  "What are your greatest recruitment challenges?" is another goody, including answers such as "Competition" and "Making joining easy" plus, of course, the perennial issue, "Creating a powerful/challenging/appealing membership package", 

There is also a provocative question of "How much do you spend on member recruitment?" and as a marketing man, i would add "as a percentage of membership income?". There is then a list of 24 different marketing methods, some free, some not, and 10 different social media options.

Then come two real zingers, "How long do members generally stay on?" and  "What are the main reasons why members leave?". The answer to the first one should come from your member database. The second one is likely to be based on gut feel unless you do exit surveys...you do don't you?

There's loads more, including, of course, one about data and technology challenges. And that's where we can help.