Associations thrive when they prioritize member engagement through strategic, governance-driven approaches. Defining engagement, establishing a continuous feedback loop, setting clear goals, and leveraging data are key to fostering meaningful member connections. Personalization and targeted program offerings ensure that engagement efforts align with member needs at different career stages. A well-defined, measurable engagement strategy strengthens community ties, enhances member retention, and ultimately supports the association’s long-term mission and sustainability.
Not long ago, I had the opportunity to participate in a discussion with association leaders on the topic of member engagement. The conversation reinforced just how vital this issue is for associations striving to deliver on their mission. While there is little debate that engaging members ultimately allows the organization to deliver on its mandate, there is less consensus on the definition of member engagement itself.
Member engagement is not just about attendance at events or renewal rates—it’s about fostering meaningful connections that align with the association’s mission and governance principles. A strategic, governance-driven approach ensures that engagement is measured, structured, and aligned with organizational goals. Here’s how associations can enhance membership by defining and prioritizing engagement activities that support their mission and deliver personalized value.
In our view, the definition of “engagement” is very specific to every association, often leading to inconsistent. At its core, engagement is an exchange of value. Members invest time and resources expecting a return that aligns with their professional growth and the association’s purpose.
To ensure engagement strategies serve both members and governance objectives, associations should establish clear definitions and metrics. Engagement could be measured by active participation in advocacy, contributions to knowledge-sharing platforms, involvement in professional development, or service in governance roles.
By clarifying what engagement means, associations can align their efforts with their mission and set expectations accordingly. In an effort to further understand member engagement, we’ve outlined five key steps that create a pragmatic framework from which to start.
1. Research – Creating a feedback loop with members.
Governance best practices emphasize the importance of stakeholder feedback in decision-making. Your existing members are your most valuable resource in terms of understanding what is working and what needs improvement. They have gone through the full member/customer journey from discovering your association to consideration and finally registration.
Your first step is to utilize insights from this group and gather as much information as possible about what they need, to continually refine your value proposition. It’s also critical to ask questions and probe about their experience and what it’s like to deal with you from an outside perspective. Are you meeting their needs consistently?
There are multiple ways to generate insight, some of them happen at key times of the year like the renewal process or the annual conference. However, most should be engrained in your day-to-day routines, helping you to create a constant feedback loop with your members. Some options include:
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- Surveys & Polls: Conduct regular membership surveys to assess satisfaction and gather insights.
- Member Advisory Groups: Establish committees or task forces to provide structured input.
- Social Listening: Monitor discussions on social platforms and forums to identify emerging needs.
- Post-Event Feedback: Gather insights after events or educational sessions to refine future offerings.
Knowing as much as possible about your members is necessary for building meaningful, contextual experiences with them and future members. By embedding feedback into governance structures, associations ensure that engagement strategies remain member-focused and data-driven.
2. Define engagement – setting clear goals aligned with governance
The next step is to clearly define what engagement means for your association. It’s clear that member engagement has a direct impact on renewal. As found in the 2024 Membership Benchmarking Report conducted by Marketing General Inc., 47% of associations said that lack of engagement with the organization is the top reason why members don’t renew (lack of perceived value is number 2 at 32%).
On the reverse side, many associations mistakenly associate a high renewal rate with a high level of engagement. It is not unusual for an association to have a high percentage of “cheque writers” i.e. those that pay the dues but are not actively involved in advocacy, sharing knowledge, and engaging in professional development for example.
It is critical that an association clearly breaks down what engagement looks like to drive those activities providing value to members and those that will support the mission of the organization. These activities then become your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of engagement. This also allows the organization to start measuring engagement in a very tangible way.
Some examples of KPIs include:
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- Advocacy Participation: Tracking the number of members involved in policy discussions.
- Content Contribution: Measuring engagement in knowledge-sharing activities such as webinars, white papers, or discussion forums.
- Volunteer Leadership: Monitoring participation in board or committee roles.
- Member Retention & Satisfaction: Analyzing renewal rates and satisfaction survey results.
With clear engagement KPIs, associations can ensure that engagement contributes directly to their mission and sustainability.
3. Prioritize – Designing programs to maximize member value.
When the association deeply understands its audience and has defined “engagement”, building and prioritizing programs and services specifically designed to drive that engagement becomes much easier. It’s important to note that the types of activities could very well differ by member segment or type of member. Engagement is not a one size fits all endeavour, to address this, associations can segment their membership base to deliver targeted engagement strategies. For some of our clients, we have seen the first two steps open the path to innovative new services and options for revenue diversification.
Governance-driven engagement strategies include:
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- Segmented Member Benefits: Tailoring offerings to new members, mid-career professionals, and retirees.
- Diverse Engagement Options: Offering low-commitment engagement (e.g., quick surveys, social media participation) alongside high-commitment opportunities (e.g., committee leadership roles, policy advocacy).
- Strategic Resource Allocation: Directing resources toward programs with the highest engagement impact.
By aligning program priorities with governance objectives, associations ensure that engagement efforts are both impactful and sustainable.
engagement opportunities that align with their time constraints and interests increases participation and retention.
The goal should be to have a balanced engagement portfolio for various phases of the lifecycle. For example, do you offer quick ways for a time crunched physician to provide input or feedback? Can they get value in a bite sized way rather than attending a three-day conference?
Some strategies for personalized engagement include:
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- Customized Communication: Use member data to personalize email content, event recommendations, and learning opportunities.
- Flexible Engagement Formats: Offer both in-depth (e.g., mentorship programs, board service) and quick engagement (e.g., micro-learning sessions, short surveys).
- Technology-Enabled Interaction: Utilize AI-driven recommendations, chatbots, and mobile-friendly platforms to enhance accessibility.
By embedding personalization within engagement strategies, associations can foster stronger connections and long-term loyalty among members.
Final Thoughts
For associations seeking to enhance membership value, redefining and prioritizing member engagement is essential. Member engagement must be core to the mission of the organization and part of everyone’s job description. It must be well defined, measurable and woven through the entire member lifecycle.
By establishing a continuous feedback loop, setting clear goals, prioritizing strategic programs, leveraging data, and personalizing engagement, associations can unlock their full potential. A governance-driven approach to engagement ensures that every interaction contributes to the association’s mission, fosters stronger community ties, and positions the organization for long-term success.
Strengthen Your Association with Governance-Driven Engagement
At Stratford, we help associations align member engagement with strong governance principles to drive long-term success. From defining clear engagement metrics to implementing strategic, data-driven programs, our expertise ensures your organization remains mission-focused and member-centric.
Let’s work together to build a strategy that delivers real impact.
Contact Us to start the conversation today!
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[FROM THE ARCHIVES: This blog post was originally published in 2016 as "5 Steps to Define, Measure & Manage Member Engagement." It has been updated with new content.]