How the American Society for Nutrition used MemberClicks automation to recapture lapsed members
At face value, the mission of the American Society of Nutrition (ASN) seems so simple: To Advance the Science, Education and Practice of Nutrition. But within those nine words lives ambitious goals to elevate a membership of professionals dedicated to the science of nutrition. Founded in 1929, ASN started as more of a publishing program but steadily morphed into a professional association as members started to organize and pay dues. This, of course, led to the establishment of member benefits and important programming areas focused on advocacy, events, communication and networking. ASN’s 20-person staff serves 7,500 members across 120 countries (a number that has grown by nearly 50 percent since 2015). Dante Preciado, Vice President of Engagement and International Affairs, attributes this growth — from an acceleration and sustainability perspective — to implementing MemberClicks.While we started the trend of growth prior to MemberClicks, MemberClicks has allowed us to continue that trend and grow even more because of more accurate data and records.
Paying for Lack of Empowerment
Prior to using MemberClicks, the ASN staff experienced major headaches with another association management software, which limited their ability to automate their processes, especially membership renewals. “The data would get scrambled, and the provider claimed there was automation included, but it was always breaking,” said Melanie Dair, Member Services Specialist with ASN. “You also couldn’t troubleshoot or fix any issues on your own. You couldn’t even change things like the way our invoice reflected our logo.” Preciado echoes Dair’s recollection, saying their pain points were seemingly insurmountable, as they would have to wait days to hear back on a help ticket — and when they did hear back, it was usually bad news that a fix wasn’t possible.You also couldn’t troubleshoot or fix any issues on your own. You couldn’t even change things like the way our invoice reflected our logo.He also recalls mounting frustrations with renewal notices never reaching the intended individuals, causing memberships to lapse without knowledge of the member or the ASN office. Making a bad situation worse, despite spending more than $35,000 a year on the AMS tool itself, as well as fees related to fixing problems, staff was still having to perform duties outside of the program, resulting in hours upon hours of manual work. “I remember when I first came on board, Dante was sending out manual renewal reminders by mail merge,” Dair said. “And we were not even sure who received what. We were guesstimating what our numbers were because our data wasn’t accurate.”
Capturing Renewals through Automation
After MemberClicks was introduced, these problems evaporated, especially when it came to renewals. Dair said the biggest impact MemberClicks made immediately was introducing simple automation of their renewal process. In fact, the automated renewal messages surfaced individuals who didn’t realize their membership had been lapsed for many years because they’d not been receiving any notifications previously. Not only did MemberClicks automation capture renewals better and help to re-engage lapsed members, it eliminated the need for manual work.Before, not only was I printing everything out, I was spending 12-16 hours every day working and trying to get these things resolved, and now my days are more regular.“Now that we have MemberClicks and automation, we are reaching those individuals who we lost,” Preciado said. “So while we started the trend of growth prior to MemberClicks, MemberClicks has allowed us to continue that trend and grow even more because of more accurate data and records. It’s not such a manual, time-consuming process. Before, not only was I printing everything out, I was spending 12-16 hours every day working and trying to get these things resolved, and now my days are more regular.”
Bonus Benefits Abound
Preciado’s days being more steady and productive isn’t simply a benefit to ASN and its members, there are some other special people who are appreciative. “My family is more grateful that I’m able to spend more time with them thanks in large part to the automation with MemberClicks,” he said. Additionally, Preciado stated that having a technology partner who understands their specific problems and needs, and then works to find the appropriate solutions, instills confidence and trust that isn’t common in other vendor relationships.One thing I admire about MemberClicks is how much they think outside the box when it comes to problem solving. I think the biggest benefit to working with you guys is you get us.“When we talk to other vendors, I say ‘if I were able to work with you as easily as I work with MemberClicks, the world would be a better place to live,’” Preciado said. “It’s true. One thing I admire about MemberClicks is how much they think outside the box when it comes to problem solving. I think the biggest benefit to working with you guys is you get us.” We believe the next chapter of this story goes something like “...and they lived happily ever after.”
