Membership Equations

I thought I’d share a list of equations that membership professionals have been using over the years to track their membership and marketing results.

It’s important to know your numbers so you can chart your success.

Membership is a numbers game -- make sure you’re tracking your results with these simple equations.

Renewal Rate

(Current members minus Number of new members) divided by Number of members in the past year

Attrition

1 minus Renewal Rate

Market Penetration

Number of current members divided by Number of potential members

Average Dues Revenue

Total Dues Revenue divided by Number of Members

Average Non-Dues Revenue

Total Non-Dues Revenue divided by Number of Members

Average Cost to Service a Member

Total Membership Expenses divided by Number of Members

Lifetime Value of a Member

(Average Dues + Average Non-Dues) x Average Number of Years of Membership

Keep these formulas handy. Know your numbers!

Just Say No!

Easier said than done!

Agreed, but you need to find a way to say no or your chamber will try and be all things to all people.

We can’t be all things to all people. Let me repeat that, we can’t be all things to all people.

Successful chambers figured that out a long time ago. Decide what kind of chamber you want to be and live it every day.

Read previous post HERE on the Hedgehog Theory from Jim Collin’s book, Good to Great. Through your strategic planning process you should have the road map to success.

Are you an advocacy chamber, economic development chamber or a networking chamber?

I’d suggest you should be known for one and live that brand. I’m not suggesting which you should be, just the fact that you should focus on one of them as your brand.

Your brand on the street should be:

• The chamber that advocates;
• The chamber that brings jobs to the community; or
• The chamber where you can network for business opportunities.

I’ll grant you that you may be doing all three, but pick one to plant your stake in the ground.

That’s your marker. That’s your brand!

What is Your Core Competency?

As a competent chamber executive, we are constantly responding to member requests, trends in the industry, etc.

But do we spend enough time figuring out what are our core competencies?

A starting point is to survey your members (for a blog post on survey tools click HERE).

Identify what they want and prioritize. Put the appropriate resources in place to deliver on these core competencies once they’ve been identified.

As you are aware they may be different depending on your local situation and make-up of the community (i.e., political, networking, education, etc.).

The Western Association of Chamber Executives (W.A.C.E.), in 2010, released its latest study on the subject. Based on respondents from 15 western states, the top five core competencies members want from their chamber are as follows:

1. Creating a strong local economy
2. Promoting the community
3. Providing networking opportunities
4. Representing the interest of business with government
5. Political action

If you have not led your board through a recent strategic planning session to identify your core competencies, their toolkit is a good starting point. Or, this previous blog post on a board retreat might be helpful.

And, once you’ve identified these core competencies, don’t forget to measure your results on how you’re delivering on their importance to your membership.

Good luck!

Nonprofit Governance

On a recent plane trip across the country I had the opportunity to read a lengthy article by John Carver and Miriam Carver, titled Carver’s Policy Governance Model in Nonprofit Organizations.

I wanted to share my take of the article and encourage you to read the original HERE.

A few key concepts that hit home for me and I'd like to share with you were:

• Trade associations are owned by their members - chamber’s that means your small business owners own the chamber, not you, not the community.
• The Board as a body speaks for the ownership, not individual board members.
• The Board has one employee, the CEO. The board only speaks to the CEO, not staff.
• Boards should not just approve committee reports but use these documents as a basis for the board to make decisions (i.e. policy) on behalf of the organization.
• Board meetings are not about going over the past. Board meetings should be about large decisions and the future of the organization.

Do yourself and your chamber a favor and take the time to read this article and make your own notes and observations for further discussion with your board.

Read the entire article HERE.

It’s a great read!

What Are You Going to Stop Doing?

We need to ask this question more often.

It doesn’t have to be at the end of each year. It could be at your next board meeting.

Remember, we can't be all things to all people.

Do your chamber a favor, go back five years and right write down all the new programs or initiatives you’ve started on the left side of a sheet of paper.

Now write down all the things you’ve stop doing on the right side of that same sheet of paper.

I’ll bet that the left side has a lot more items than the left. Why? Like our peers across the country they’ve had five new chairmen each with their own special project that they support.

In fact, we’re doing more with less. We’re on that conveyer belt of life. Doing the same thing over and over because that’s the way we’ve always done it.

I challenge you to add more items to the right side of the sheet. It may allow your chamber to appropriate the proper resources to the programs you decide to keep and they may become more successful.

Not only should you review what the chamber should stop doing but what are you personally going to stop doing to free up your time and burnout?

I fall in the same trap you do. I feel I must read every email, article or book for work. Well, you don’t need to read them all, just the important ones.

Your homework assignment, identify which important thing you need to focus on and put the rest in the circular file.

It’s liberating!

Keys to Holding Effective Board/Committee Meetings

Board meetings, committee meetings or task force meetings, it doesn’t matter, they should all be conducted in the same manner.

All meetings should start on time. They should be done at a venue that is conducive to conducting a business meeting (i.e., AV, room set-up, etc.) and don’t forget the refreshments.

The key to a well-run meeting starts with a well thought out agenda. Your agenda should be a product created by the board chair and the chief staff executive.

The agenda should have a timeline attached to each item, it should include a consent calendar and clearly identify if there are any action items that need to be addressed.

Remember, you don’t have to discuss every item at every board meeting. Here’s a sample agenda to get you started and should be completed in one hour:

• Introduction/Roll Call (5 minutes)
• Approval of the minutes (5 minutes)
• Chairman’s Report (5 minutes)
• Mega issue discussion (40 minutes)
• Consent Calendar (approval of the consent calendar takes no time)

1. Finance Committee Report
2. Government Relations Committee Report
3. Education Committee Report
4. Leadership Committee Report
5. Membership Committee Report
6. Foundation Report

• Other (5 minutes)
• Adjournment (date of the next meeting)

Please note that the committee reports under the consent calendar could be a full agenda item at any meeting.

It all depends on the time of year and what those standing committees are working on and whether there is a need for board approval (i.e., taking a position on a legislative matter, endorsing a candidate, etc.).

It should also be noted that any item on the consent calendar can be pulled off and discussed at the full board meeting.

Having said that, the more items you can put under the consent agenda, the smoother your board meetings will go. And, stick to the times you’ve attached to each item.

Good luck with your next board meeting!

For a comprehensive overview of a board chair and board member best practices packet by the nonprofit alliance at the Kellogg Community College go HERE.

New Board Member Orientation

Are you conducting a board orientation each year for your new members?

If not, you should.

Each year we welcome up to one third new members to our boards.

It doesn’t take long (three to six years, depending on your board terms) before you have a completely new board (not counting your executive committee).

I believe it’s imperative to keep all board members on the same page and a new board member orientation is a great way to do that.

Your orientation should be prior to their first board meeting and should contain all the relevant collaterals that paint a picture of the chamber and the organizations work. Some of those materials might be:

• Chamber Bylaws;
• Board member job description;
• Board minutes from the past year;
• The chamber’s last annual report and audited financial statement;
• Strategic Plan;
• Dates of all upcoming board meetings and major events for the year;
• A current list of all board members and their terms; and
• A scorecard to measure board member involvement.

These are just a few suggestions. It’s important that you add what works best for your chamber. Setting the expectation up front concerning your board members involvement in the organization is just good business.

An informed board member will be an active board member.

Start that new board member orientation today!

For a list of best practices of board member orientations go HERE.  For an anatomy of a board orientation from Bob Harris, CAE go HERE.

And for one more great resource on board orientations by The Bridgespan Group go HERE.