Membership Dues Points

What are your dues points?  What works best for you?

Studies suggest the following three models to be the most widely used in order of popularity:

1.  Tiers - Gold, Silver, Bronze
2.  Full-time employees
3.  Annual budget/sales

There are pro’s and con’s to each, it’s your responsibility to find out what works best for your organization.

Do you have the following membership categories in addition to your current membership?

• Students
• Retirees
• Lifetime members

Also, do you have a minimum dues point?  Have you ever sent money back because they didn’t pay the minimum?  While I’m not an advocate of sending checks back, there are costs to membership.

Again, something to think about!

For more information on membership tiered dues models from Kyle Sexton go HERE.

Net Revenue vs. Gross Revenue

I was recently reading an interesting article on the net revenue vs. gross revenue thought process.

Past blog posts have addressed:

• The Hedgehog Theory
• Kicking Sacred Cows to the Curb
• Nonprofit Doesn't Mean Don't Make a Profit

...which all focus, in different ways, on programs that your members value and where you’re making money.

When looking at your programs many suggest you look at the net revenue for each of your programs (including fully loaded costs, i.e. staff) not just the gross revenue.  Be smart about where you put your chambers resources.

The more you focus on net revenue the better your spread will be at the end of the year and you’ll be able to put more money to reserves.

And we all know in today’s economy anything we can do to improve efficiencies and improve your bottom line will be well received by your board.

Which would you rather have a bigger gross budget or a better net profit in your next budget cycle?

Managing Volunteers

For most of us, each year we get a new chairman with their ideas and set of priorities that may or may not align with the current program of work of your organization.

I think we all can agree that if you have a challenging volunteer it can make for a long year.

We all (volunteers and staff) come to the table with different personalities, strengths and weaknesses.

Open communication is the key!  If you keep your lines of communication open and transparent, your organization will be better off for it.

There are resources available that may help with this volunteer/staff relationship.  I am especially fond of the work the Tecker International folks have accumulated on the subject matter through seminars and publications.

Don’t ignore it.  Address it with open communication.

For more information on the subject matter from Tecker International click HERE.

Why Do Our Members Walk Away?

Do you ask them?

With overall chamber retention rates ranging from 70% - 90% percent, the list of lapsed members is a group of members we need to understand why they walked away.

And remember, they’re your warmest leads!

If you’ve done the survey, you’ve probably received the following responses:

• Not in the budget this year, cutting back on subscriptions and dues;
• Didn’t attend any events or programs this past year; or
• No value.

It’s time to dig a little deeper.  Do some focus groups.

Invite six members who recently dropped their membership, take them to lunch and ask some open ended questions.  Then, just listen.

As the CEO, it’s important you get the facts.  One more thing!  Don’t ask them to rejoin at this luncheon.  Just thank them for their time and honest feedback.

Reach out three or six months later.  Send the “we want you back letter.”  Incorporate their feedback on how you’ve addressed their issue/s in your letter and attach an invoice at their last dues point.

Ask.  Listen.  Respond.

That’s a recipe for success!

For a previous blog post on needs assessment tools to determine your members reasons go HERE.

Transparency

In today’s world being transparent is expected.

Don’t hide behind closed door sessions, private meetings, and this goes for staff and volunteers too.

If everybody can see the big picture, everybody should be able to support the organization and its mission.

This is especially true when something goes wrong (i.e., a program or event loses money) or certain members aren’t paying what they should.

Can we all say scorecards?  See previous post on scorecards HERE.

Transparency is about filling out a plan on what the chambers challenges and opportunities are and setting a proper course of action to deliver value to your members.

Remember, your members are business people and make business decisions every day.

If a program is not working, being a transparent organization is a great way of shining a light on that loser, or sacred cow, and kick-it to the curb.

Past post on sacred cows can be found HERE.

Be transparent, your chamber will be better off for it!

Succession Planning

As a chamber CEO it’s probably not on your radar screen to think about what the chamber would look like after you leave.

Some chamber execs stay a couple of years and some stay well over 20 years.

In either scenario you should have a succession plan in place for your chamber.  This is good for you and the organization.

I will take it a step further and say you should have a plan for each critical position at your chamber.  When coming up with a plan, it’s important you at least cover the basics.

The plan should at least include:

• A press release announcing a transition;
• A timeline for the selection process;
• A job description for the open CEO position; and
• A communications plan to keep your members informed on the process.

It’s important to be transparent in the process.  The other important thing is don’t make any knee jerk decisions.

You have the time to review your program of work and clearly identify the direction your organization should take.

There are many reasons why CEO’s leave:

• New job
• Retirement
• Contract not renewed

No matter the reason, your chamber needs to have a game plan to move forward.

The chamber will be around a lot longer then you or I. Do what’s best for the organization.

Formalize a succession plan today!

For more resources on succession planning by the Annie E. Casey Foundation go HERE.

3 Elements of an Effective Blog Post

I recently attended a social media breakout session that focused on three key elements of writing an effective blog post.

And boy did I get some great ideas!

While there may be other elements to think about, they suggested that if you focus on these three, you’ll be well on your way to that next great blog post!

So when it's time to write your next blog post think of these three elements to capture your audience:

1. Title
2. Images
3. Content

Title

Title matters and it’s important to focus on its length, is it compelling and does it tell a consistent story?

• Length –Keep it short, no more than 8 words or less.
• Compelling – Know your audience and create a title that makes the audience want to click/read the blog.
• Telling – Article should follow the title and must be relevant.  The title should tell people what they are going to get if they read the article.

Images

Images are a key part of your blog post, and the image needs to be engaging, relevant, and shareable.

• Engaging – Show action.  Charts and graphs are not always good. The image must add to the story.
• Relevant – Don’t mislead readers with your image and title.
• Shareable – Will your friends and colleagues share your post to their networks? That’s where you get your bang for your buck – think viral.

Content

Content is key, I’ve said it before in a blog post HERE.  Focus on your audience, the length and flow of your blog post.

• Audience – Know your audience and content.  Make it targeted.
• Length – 90 seconds is all your audience will spend on a blog post. Keep your message short and tight.
• Readable – Don’t use acronyms, however, mini titles can be effective throughout a blog post and the use of links can be effective too, both internally or external.

I hope some of the tips mentioned above help you write that next great blog post.

At least it gives you something to think about the next time you put pen to paper or should I say fingers to keyboard!

For more information on how to write a great blog visit the folks at problogger HERE.  For a great resource on how to grow your blog go HERE.