Blog
Growth Strategies from Top Fundraisers Q&A
In my last post, I shared the link to the webinar my Steal This Idea! co-author Sohini Baliga and I presented for Wild Apricot on March 21. Sohini and I got to as many questions as we…
Read More →Growth Strategies from Top Fundraisers
My Steal This Idea! Innovations in Cause-Oriented Fundraising for Associations co-author Sohini Baliga and I recently had the opportunity to talk with some smart people about the information in the whitepaper. Special for those of you…
Read More →Membership 101: Should You Reward Novelty or Loyalty?
It’s a trick question! You should reward both. Associations generally do a good job rewarding novelty. The new member gets the special rate. The first time attendee gets the unique badge ribbon and the exclusive…
Read More →Is It Time for a Digital Detox?
Over-work and too much stress are pretty much the norm for most association executives. Every day, we’re trying to do a lot for our members, and most associations are perpetually understaffed and tight on budget….
Read More →Boosting Membership Retention from the Start: Your Members’ First 3 Months
Editorial note: the following is a guest blog from Callie Walker of MemberClicks Does membership retention really begin the second a member joins your association? It should! The better you onboard, the more likely your…
Read More →Don’t Get Lazy!!
Putting it all together, maybe the most important thing Sohini and I learned from fundraisers as we were researching Steal This Idea! (and as Sohini has worked with them over the past two decades) is: don’t…
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Reduce Barriers to Entry
Just about every association I know of is struggling to recruit younger members (aka Millennials). Part of the reason for that is that we’re erecting barriers to entry rather than removing them. What’s required to…
Read More →Your Baby Is Ugly
One of the great things about being a consultant is that we get to tell people when their baby is ugly without them getting mad at us – hey, they’re PAYING us to tell them…
Read More →Treat Members Equitably Not Equally
In the association world, we tend to want to treat all our members equally: nobody is more important or special than anyone else. That’s a noble impulse and helpful, up to point. After all, you…
Read More →Steal This Idea!
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the past 20 years, it’s that associations don’t always have all the answers. We definitely have some major advantages, not the least of which is that we are…
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