For many organizations, renewal season is quickly approaching. Hopefully, you have automated, personalized emails set up and ready to go, but before hitting send, it’s worth asking: When was the last time you updated your membership renewal reminder emails?

Even if it’s only been a year, it’s worth revisiting what you have. After all, with email marketing of any type, there’s ALWAYS room for improvement – even if it’s just a subject line switch-up. 

Take a look at your existing series of renewal reminder emails and ask yourself…

  • Is the subject line compelling?
    • Does it promote a sense of urgency?
  • Did I thank the member for their past year of membership before asking them to renew?
  • Did I let them know exactly when they need to renew by?
  • Did I explain how to renew (preferably, step-by-step)?
  • Did I include a link to renew to help them get started?
  • Did I mention any of the benefits they’ll be missing out on if they choose not to renew?
  • Did I remind them of the membership value they received over the past year? (For example, for a chamber of commerce, it might be, “With our directory, your company name appeared in [Number] searches.) 
  • Did I include a point of contact in case they have a question about their membership or renewing, in general?
  • Does the email copy, overall, seem personable and genuine or does it seem a bit robotic and “all business?” 

The above questions are just meant to get you thinking. That’s not to say that for every email, the answer to each question should be ‘yes,’ but you should certainly have more ‘yeses’ than ‘nos’ by the close of each email. 

Now sometimes, it’s just easier to see an example. Read on for a sample renewal reminder email (one that, when reviewed with the questions above, yields a majority of ‘yeses’):

Subject: Time’s running out to keep the member benefits you love! 

Hi [First Name],

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support over the past 12 months. We value all contributions to [Association/Chamber Name], and memberships make up the lifeblood of our organization. Your involvement is extremely important to us and very much appreciated.

That said, we know you’re busy and just wanted to take this time to remind you that your membership with [Association/Chamber Name] will expire on [Expiration Date].

If you’re still deciding whether or not to renew, or just haven’t gotten around to it yet, please let us remind you of what you’ll be missing if you choose not to renew:

[List of Membership Benefits]

We hope that you’ll take this time to renew your membership and remain a part of our community. It couldn’t be easier – just click here to renew!

Kind regards,

[Sender’s Name]

Want to see more renewal reminder email templates? Or just tips and best practices for membership retention? Download our free Membership Retention Kit below!