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When I do presentations on the need for innovation, I often share a comparison of Sears and Amazon as a case study. There may not be a better example of the implications of whether or not organizations innovate and embrace change.

In July of 1995, when Amazon first opened its online store, Sears possessed everything needed to become what Amazon is today and more. Sears had a dominant and trusted brand. They sold a full portfolio of products, from clothes to appliances to tools. Sears had an enormous print catalog, an extensive customer list, and warehouses to pack and ship purchases. In fact, for over one hundred years, Sears mailed out its big book catalog to a significant portion of the U.S…

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By Brittney Durbin, Senior Account Executive

If you want your business to thrive, you need to be investing in lead generation. Though you may not see immediate ROI in terms of sales or memberships, lead generation boosts your visibility, credibility, and reliability. You can’t meet your growth goals without it!

Even more importantly, customers in today’s competitive market are looking for relationships and experiences–not just products. Lead generation allows you to start meaningful conversations with potential customers, understand their needs, and tailor your offerings to meet those needs.

So how do you get started? Whether you’re building a lead generation program from scratch or interested…

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By Tony Rossell, Senior Vice President

One of the most significant challenges to managing an effective membership recruitment program comes down to the lack of staff time and expertise. Respondents shared some of these challenges in the Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report, “We do not have the &hellipl staff capacity to have someone focus on membership growth. I do the membership, partnership, engagement, social media, marketing, website, and events.” Another membership manager affirmed this, saying their biggest challenge was “Having enough staff to execute effectively. Staffing is at a bare minimum.”

Marketing was more straightforward in the past; some staff phone calls or emails…

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By Tony Rossell, Senior Vice President

Inflation over the past several years has challenged associations’ cost structure. For membership, discussion of dues increases has become a top consideration. So, how have associations responded to this pricing challenge? The answer comes from associations’ experiences and benchmarking research, which offer reliable guidance on the best practices for raising dues.

How often do associations raise dues?

In this year’s soon-to-be-released Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report, 52 percent of associations reported raising dues (up from 47 percent in 2023 and 30 percent in the 2022 reports). Overall, seventy-two percent have raised dues in the past four…

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By Tony Rossell, Senior Vice President

Recently, I participated in an online conversation about data analytics methods to evaluate and track member engagement. Understanding how to engage members is critical for associations. In fact, according to the Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report, lack of engagement is the number one reason why members do not renew. Highly engaged members can be relied on to renew and are more likely to volunteer, attend meetings, and make purchases from the association. Identifying members who are not engaged provides an association with the opportunity to intervene before renewal time.

In this discussion, the question was asked: how can engagement best be…

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