Has your association been looking for ways to reach a younger audience? Are you searching for ways to increase your membership numbers in younger demographics? Is your membership mainly composed of a generation of professionals who are going to be out of your industry’s workforce in 10 to 20 years? If this is your association, don’t worry. You’re not alone.
If we want to attract an audience or membership that is different than what we have today, we should recall the adage that says the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Clearly, we should try something different. If organizations like NPR, whose audience is typically the Baby Boomer generation, is having success in reaching a younger audience by connecting in new types of outreach like social media and mobile apps, then why shouldn’t associations try it?
If you’re interested in building your membership numbers for younger professionals, try the following:
- Ask your association’s younger staff members how they first heard about your association or any association, for that matter. There may be opportunities to deliver messaging in ways and in areas at low cost no cost that you haven’t thought of before.
- Ask your current younger members’ opinions on what things they need and why they are members.
- Connect with younger audiences using media that they use and follow. By researching social networks, mobile apps, and so forth to see which mediums have active communities in your industry, you could gain greater insight into new ways to connect with people. As you research, you may even find a group that has formed on a social network that your association doesn’t even know about. Research to learn whether competing associations have active Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, or other social media outposts. If you’re finding activity, then that’s a pretty good sign that you should use these new mediums to engage these audiences. Even if they are already your members, what’s the harm in connecting in yet another way?
- Seek out external young-professional programs. Reach out to HR departments of large organizations in your field to find out if they have any special programs for young employees to which you could aim your association’s membership marketing.
- Discount membership and event rates for students. It would seem that one of the best ways to get members involved for the long term is if you catch them before they’re in the workforce and then your association can become the go-to resource for everything they need to succeed in your industry.
- Help students find a job right of college. By setting up an online job board as part of your association’s website, you could help a person just entering the workforce or changing industries to get an internship or a job. If you do, they’re going to be your association’s biggest champion.
- Offer creative ways to become more engaged and help the young professionals save money, for example, by creating a dues-based system so that the more they contribute to the association in volunteer work and engagement, the more they receive in membership dues rebates, free admission to events, and so on.
- Make attending your association’s events less intimidating by promoting an event ambassador system. As a young professional, it can be quite intimidating for some to attend an event you’ve never been to with an organization you’ve just learned of, but if you know at least one person there, it’s a whole lot easier to go. Also if this seasoned member ambassador is willing to meet a new attendee beforehand and introduce you around, this will make the first impression a lasting one.
- Host events in locations and at venues that would attract younger people, such as Manhattan instead of Greenwich, Connecticut, for instance.
- Designate a spot on the board. Consider creating a board of directors position to be filled exclusively by someone under the age of 30.
In conclusion, just remember: if nothing changes, then nothing will change, including your membership numbers and demographics.
Kelly Flowers, is associate director of channel partners at DubMeNow, Inc. in Washington, DC. Twitter: @kelly_flowers; email: kflowers@poweredbydub.com
Article originally published in ASAE Member Section Newsletter, December 2010 http://www.asaecenter.org/Resources/EnewsletterArticleDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=53675