It’s one thing to have an idea of why your members act a certain way and quite another to actually have the hard facts. Without tracking those metrics however, how are you going to know?
We’ve got you covered! Take a look at these four metrics (that you should be tracking with your AMS) that all associations NEED to know.
1. Prospect to Member Time Frame
It’s key that you know how long it takes your average prospect to join your association so you can understand what timeframe you’re working with for your prospect to member lifecycle. You can find this out by making sure you are actively tracking your prospects from the beginning of their interest.
Try looking looking for those folks who are:
- A non-member that registers for an event (or anything outside of membership)
- A lapsed member that you think may consider rejoining later
- Anyone you correspond with that may have interest in joining your association
2. Member to Lapsed Time Frame
On the flipside, it’s just as important that you know when your members stop renewing their membership with your association. While this metric is easy to track, it may be harder to determine the why behind it. Your members will probably have various reasons, such as:
- Personal reasons not related to your association
- Disinterest in your association’s activities and/or purpose
- Unable to pay annual membership
As a result, you may want to try and include an exit survey to those members so you can see if there is a strong correlation between members on any of these reasons.
3. Best Attended Member Events
One of the best ways to figure out what events are the most appealing for your members is to track the member attendance for each of your association’s events. This metric will allow you to see the highs and lows of your events from an outside perspective so you can see where you might need to improve for your next set of events!
4. Average Open Rate for Emails
When it comes to member engagement, one of the best ways to track communication is to see how frequently your members are opening your emails. Per Hubspot, the nonprofit industry typically usually receives a 28% open rate, so don’t be discouraged if those percentages are lower than you expected!
Many associations have the same story. They start off small, using a simple spreadsheet to manage their organization’s membership. But then their organization grows, and suddenly, that spreadsheet isn’t quite cutting it anymore.
Check out our guide, Eliminating the Pain of Membership Spreadsheets, to learn how an AMS can be your technology solution to help you better manage your association’s membership.
