06/06/2019

Daily Buzz: What the Best Onboarding Programs Have in Common

Successful onboarding programs include three key elements

New-member onboarding doesn’t stop once they’ve received a welcome letter in the mail. To prove your association’s value—and increase the chance of renewal in the future—your organization needs a solid onboarding program.

The problem: Once dues are paid, associations often don’t do enough to make new members feel welcome.

“Associations tend to have very robust renewal programs, but meager new-member onboarding programs,” says Amanda Kaiser on the Wild Apricot blog. Those organizations that do prioritize onboarding, she says, have three elements in common:

Start early. “Organizations have a three-day to three-week window of opportunity to first engage each new member,” Kaiser says. “That’s because new members want to know as soon as possible how the organization can help them, what the value is, and most importantly, they want to confirm they did not make a mistake in joining.”

Plan out messaging and make a timeline. Kaiser says that onboarding plans with scripted and dated communications have higher success rates than those whose emails are impromptu. So, know what you’re going to say and when to say it.

Revisit your program regularly and make changes as needed. “New member onboarding programs should perform better each year,” Kaiser says. “Why? Because program managers measure the success of each message and re-create the ones that perform poorly.” Audit your program twice a year, making tweaks as needed, and see how it affects your new-member renewal rate.

Please select this link to read the original article from Associations Now.