Like many, I belong to a handful of professional associations. Recently, I attended a meeting where the chapter president said not once, but three times, how important it was for the organization to provide value. It stuck with me not only because he said it three times – but because the comments were genuine, not just some practiced speech about value so I would renew my membership dues.
It wasn’t until after the meeting I realized that I also have to take some responsibility for their value proposition.
I was on a plane traveling somewhere and catching up on my reading. This particular trip my reading included all of those “for members only” magazines you get with your memberships. You know, like AAA has a members’ only publication or Celebrity Cruises Captain’s Club has a cruise magazine.
Anyhoo, as I was thumbing through, it occurred to me that, if I never read this stuff, I would never know about the discounts the organization offers its members (aka me.) And if I don’t attend their meetings or conferences then I don’t get the benefit of what they’re trying to provide. Hmmm…
Being a member of something means the organization needs to provide value. We all get that. But the members of the organization need to be open to receiving it. Think about that. If you sign up as a member and never attend meetings, don’t read the emails, toss the publications in the recycling bin and skip their conferences – I’m not sure it’s totally the associations fault if you aren’t realizing the value they provide.
It’s not that they don’t provide value. The value is right there for the taking.
Before my little epiphany, it was easy to look at a membership renewal invoice and say, “What have they done for me lately?” and toss it. Now I’m going to ask myself, “Have I tried to take advantage of their offerings?” I need to pay a little more attention to get the full benefit they have to offer.
Granted, the outcome might still be to not renew…but at least I’ve done my due diligence to evaluate their value proposition.
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Ginger says
This post really hit home for me. I used to work for a company that was, essentially, a business networking group. We had so many members who, when renewal came around, would say “I’m not renewing – I didn’t get anything out of this.”
I really couldn’t dispute their claim – they didn’t get a single thing. They didn’t show up to a single meeting. When I emailed them pleading “Puh-leeease send me your nomination for ‘Business Leader of the Month,'” I never got a response. Often times they didn’t even send me enough information to provide their business a complete profile on our website. Additionally, when I would look at our email campaigns, I could see that they never even opened emails I sent.
I could talk about membership business models, probably forever, and from all different angles, but the bottom line is that, in most cases, the more you put into a membership, the more you will get out of it. If you don’t put anything into it, expect the same in return.
Sharlyn Lauby says
Thanks for the comment Ginger. I was amazed at the deals and discounts I read about. It made me realize just what you said, “you get out of it what you put into it.”
AH says
Memberships to professional organizations are all about what you are looking to get out of them. You may be using them for a multitude of reasons: strengthen your resume, networking opportunity, conferences, e-mail updates about current issues, or it’s a prerequisite for a certification you want. If you put a certain amount of work into staying connected and taking leadership roles in these organizations, then you are likely to benefit from them. On the flip side, there are always going to be people that do not really care about the organization and only sign up each year because their company pays for the dues and it’s industry standard to be part of the membership list. There is value to be found in these, and it all depends on your level of commitment.
Sharlyn Lauby says
Thanks for the comment AH. Totally agree what you get is contingent upon what you’re looking for. But to quote that old Rolling Stones tune, “you can’t always get what you want” and sometimes what we are looking for in an organization doesn’t materialize. As you pointed out, you won’t find out though if you don’t get involved.