Associations are comprised of a group of people or companies (called members) who all share a common purpose or interest. An association’s primary focus will always be to advocate for their cause (whatever it may be), in addition to providing its members with services and benefits that include (but not limited to):

• Education or professional development opportunities
• Networking opportunities
• Standards, code of ethics
• Government representation

The members play a very important role. Simply put, they are the driving force of the organization who put the time, energy and funding necessary for it to function. Without members, an association will cease to exist, therefore membership growth and retention can literally mean the life or death of an organization.

Acquiring members is easier said than done and often is a never-ending task. Every year, members leave their association for various reasons – whether it be because of retirement, a change of job or profession, businesses closing etc., associations must be well equipped to keep new members coming through the door.

As a professional working for a nonprofit trade association, I know that an association’s membership marketing is imperative to the organization’s success. Solid membership marketing is required in order to acquire, engage and retain members.

People can’t join an organization if they don’t know that it exists – therefore recruitment marketing is the first step in acquiring members for your organization. You must be able to attract your target audience by creating engaging content materials that communicates the value of membership to potential members. I believe that targeted, valuable content increases lead generation.  

With recruitment marketing being a large part of an association, I have chosen “Membership Recruitment” as my course topic in order to learn how to create effective content that I can apply in the workforce. It takes hard work to achieve member growth for an association and with membership marketing being an important part of my role, I want to ensure that I have the skills necessary to create content materials that will succeed.