Membership.doc (Word document format) Membership: A Work in Progress by Colleen S. Phipps

Early in the year we talked about the importance of establishing a membership committee. I know that you all did this because you understood that a committee formed early in the chapter program year could influence and strengthen a chapter's program by having a solid plan for attracting and retaining members. . . but. . . . it is never too late to get started. The innovative ideas for membership are endless-several successful ideas used by chapters are noted below:

Recruitment: Work at it! Convince potential candidates that an NCMA membership is the best way to begin a new "career" year. Encourage current members to look at new areas of growth for your chapter such as students, faculty, local industry, or co-workers. Every association needs fresh ideas to build a solid membership base, and students in the procurement profession are often overlooked as potential members. Faculty professionals open up an entire network of potential members. Also, go after the new employee or the long-term contracting professional who never had the time to join. Offer incentives to current members to recruit new members. How about a free pass to a chapter workshop? What about a contest for recruiting the most new members? This works at the chapter level as well as the national level. Recognize your chapter recruiters each month at chapter meetings or in your newsletter. Be sure to have membership packages ready at all times so that members can use them to recruit.

Retention: Membership retention should be looked upon as one of your most important goals. It is a work in progress which is never complete. Let the members know that you care about them throughout the year, not just at renewal time. This approach can be handled in numerous ways. How about using a telephone or mail-in survey every six months to see if the chapter and the organization are meeting the needs of your members. Use sponsors or fellow employees to maintain contact with members, particularly with those not participating in chapter meetings and programs. Mailbox members are important too. Find out why they are mailbox members. Finally, when renewal time does come around, offer incentives such as discounts for early renewal or anniversary coupons to cover the cost of certain meetings, workshops, and products. Constantly recruiting new members and losing them after a year means that you need to take a look at what is going on in your chapter.

Reinstatement: The key to reinstatement is personal contact! A survey conducted by another association revealed that 52 percent of the individuals whose membership had lapsed did not know that they had been dropped from the organization's roster. Somebody dropped the ball on retention! Every member appearing on the drop list should be contacted. This is a great opportunity to conduct an informal exit survey. Finding out why a member failed to renew is an important first step toward developing effective retention and reinstatement activities. How about planning outreach programs such as "homecoming night" or "anniversary parties" with special incentives for current members who bring back former members and for old members who renew on the spot. Let those dropped members know that they are missed!

If you have any other ideas for recruitment, retention, or reinstatement used in your chapter, please email me at Colleen.Phipps@sheppard.af.mil or Cphipps451@aol.com so I can pass them on. Colleen S. Phipps FD-Membership South Central Region