Like most associations, membership retention and recruitment is a primary focus and a critical funding source for the Turnaround Management Association’s Chicago/Midwest chapter. In 2013, the organization met 100 percent of its membership goals for young professionals: an increase of 20 percent over the previous year. Several things helped the group meet its objectives, and your association can benefit from some of the same thought processes.
Communicate the benefits of membership. With older workers leaving the workforce, young professionals will become increasingly important to the vitality of any association. What’s essential is that associations make their message clear and get it across on the right platforms: You need our group. Our organization is valuable. Let us show you how we can benefit you when it comes to networking, relationship building, education and, ultimately, career advancement.
Create a plan. Recognizing that the demographics of its membership were changing, the Turnaround Management Association’s Chicago/Midwest chapter developed a plan to better engage the next group of industry leaders, specifically targeting individuals 35 years old and under. Its goals were to:
1. Develop leaders among current young professional members who would ensure long-term growth.
2. Allow them to spearhead efforts and create programming best suited to the needs of their peers.
3. Actively recruit outside of industry events.
The chapter set about contacting younger members who were most active in the association to form a Young Professionals Committee (later renamed NextGen to align with the TMA Global’s NextGen Committee) and create programs best suited to their needs, schedules and job functions. They established six networking and social events specifically for NextGen members.
One tactic was to hold lunch programs rather than breakfast and evening events, something they found that under-35s preferred. Additionally, this demographic wanted events hosted either early or late in the week in order to accommodate travel schedules. The committee found that another “pain point” was money constraints, which hindered membership and participation, so NextGen members were offered reduced fees for forums and events. As an additional bonus, there were featured free lunches paid for by sponsors targeting both NextGen members and other potential new members.
Some of the new resulting programs that were offered also included:
1. Panels of industry leaders sharing “war stories” and providing advice for those interested in pursuing careers in corporate renewal.
2. Five NextGen-hosted roundtables in which prospective members were invited to learn about the chapter and its benefits from chapter leaders.
3. University-relations committees created to engage with potential members early on.
4. Strictly social events, such as an annual “Texas Hold ‘Em” poker night held at a neighborhood hot spot (which became one of its most popular and well-attended events).
Change your communication methods. The TMA’s Chicago/Midwest chapter learned that it needed to tap into the younger generation’s preferred methods for interaction and learning. It expanded its presence on social networking forums, started offering more interactive education at conferences, and opened up more opportunities for members to join causes such as community events at its annual conference.
The chapter redesigned its website, creating a more modern, interactive design; committed to becoming more proactively engaged with search engine optimization; and made social media improvements to better deliver information digitally. The group also included its logo on all materials to increase brand awareness and create visual consistency.
The results of the enhancements went a long way toward helping the TMA chapter meet its membership goals and also helped in actively engaging a younger professional community eager to participate in leadership positions as they advance in their careers.