Member engagement is as important as ever to our chapters. Our recent fall meetings allowed the opportunity to engage with members face to face, but only with those in attendance. For many of our members, life is not yet back to the pre-pandemic level of normalcy, and they were not able to attend the meeting due to staffing or scheduling conflicts. For others, they may not have seen the value in attending and networking with other members and industry peers. And for some, attending meetings may not be the way they want to engage with the chapter. It is our job as chapter leaders to provide our members with engagement opportunities outside of meetings and that meet the needs of our members. This past week we discussed the challenges of member engagement during the chapter best practices session and how we can increase engagement at every level with varying opportunities. See below for some of the session highlights.
Understand Member Needs – Before we begin to design engagement opportunities, we first need to understand our members’ needs. We can gather this information via surveys, polls, evaluations, focus groups or town hall/’ask me anything’ sessions. This information will help us understand what we need to do to meet demands of our members and how they would like to engage with us whether its through meetings, social media, volunteering, mentoring, advocacy, or something else entirely.
Create a Sense of Belonging – We also want to think about the community we created. Is it inclusive? Is it diverse? Do all our members feel welcome? When we have an environment that is safe, inclusive, and welcoming, members are going to feel that sense of belonging and community and more likely want to be a part of it.
Give Them One Reason – Members don’t need 10 reasons to engage with their chapter; they need 1. One reason whether its giving back, being a part of the change, personal benefits/gains or maximizing their membership, is all it takes to get a member involved. As chapter leaders, it’s our job to provide them that one reason. Survey responses will help you narrow down those reasons.
Ongoing Process – Member engagement is an ongoing process that takes place through the lifecycle of the membership. It’s relationship building from the start of the membership (or in some cases before) through retirement (and beyond) that will require different engagement opportunities dependent on where the member is during their career.