Club Promotion & Membership RecruitmentThe Program

Program

Club promotion, including membership recruitment and retention, is one of the most important basics of a club. It is ongoing. From the membership standpoint, it is a club function which is fully participatory - helping to promote `our' club, to bring in new members and to assure those members we have are satisfied with the club's services and offerings and will remain a club member. Yet, this may be one area where many clubs are doing the poorest job.

There are clubs existing that no one knows about. There are collectors in some hobby areas that have collected for years and don't realize there is a collecting club dedicated to serving the collectors of that particular hobby. Many clubs do not even have a budget line item for promotion or membership recruitment. Many clubs have no "plan on paper" for promotion or recruitment or retention - no goals in this area. Ask most anyone who attempts to maintain a "club directory" of collecting clubs. More than likely 20-25 percent of the clubs drop into the area of "unknown whereabouts" every year because the makeup of the club necessitates a change in address when their officers change. The club's whereabouts disappears.

If collecting clubs were bringing in new members at a rate higher than they could handle, the above comments may not be a serious problem. Yet, indications are that club after club is loosing memberships or remaining "level" in membership, at best.

This ACC program area can hopefully assist club leadership with developing and carrying out some specific plans that will give the club more visibility, hopefully increase membership, and also cut down on the percentage of members who are non-renewals each year.

CLUB PROMOTION

Club promotion should be an integral part of everything a club does. Promotion doesn't have to be waving banners, blaring horns and flashing lights. While these gimmicks may have their place from time to time, promotion can also be subtle. Making many different audiences AWARE of the club, and making the club visible at the right times and places, and in the right ways, is really what we're talking about.

Promotion Within the Club

When planning promotion, don't forget your most important audience - the club membership. Reminding the members about the value of the club, services it offers and plans for the future should be done on a regular basis. Club members need a reason to be proud of their club - a reason to support it in various ways. While the club newsletter or other publication, and the club website are important member services in conveying news and features about the members and the club, don't forget to use these member communications vehicles to simply promote the club from time to time.

Promotion Within the Hobby

It is important to make the club highly visible on a regular basis within the collecting area the club serves. If there are shows or auction houses or publications or dealers which serve your collecting area, the club should be highly visible in using these resources in multiple ways. Build meaningful partnerships with these show managers, auctioneers, editors and dealers. They can certainly help you promote your club and recruit new members. Likewise, the club can promote these businesses as resources for collectors. Keep these key friends informed about club activities and provide them with the tools for them to help promote the club. These tools may include rack cards or leaflets about the club, perhaps even a window decal indicating "We support `X' Collecting Club." A booth at a show, a page in an auction catalog, a feature article or display ad in a publication, or a countertop display in a dealer's shop can promote the club to collectors in the area your club serves who may not be familiar with the club.

Promotion Within the Collectibles Industry

The collectibles industry is huge. There are tens of millions of collectors. While most are collecting in areas not associated with your collecting area, this huge audience remains a viable promotion target. Why? First, many, collectors have multiple collections. While their primary collecting area may be something else at the present time, your collecting area may prove interesting to them. Second, many collectors are looking for a hobby area to specialize in - maybe it will be yours! On the other hand, often dedicated collectors at heart will tire of a collecting area and are looking for something new to collect.

We often hear the term "cross-over" collector. This refers to a collector who collects in a certain area but his or her collection also relates to another collecting area. For example, a railroad collector who enjoys collecting postcards with trains on them may be interested in joining a postcard club as well as a railroad club. A political collector who enjoys political canes or political pencils may be interested in a cane collectors club or pencil collectors club as well as a political collectors club.

The collecting industry has hundreds of collecting publications - both general and specific. There are columnists in the collecting industry, and radio and television programs, collecting news websites and electronic newsletters. All of these, to one degree or another, are interested in hearing from collecting clubs. Releases and features are easy to place, so long as you have something of news value to say.

Objectives of Promotion

Putting out news releases. Your news release or feature should have news value, be well written, and timely. Don't put out a release on an event a week before the event and expect it to run in a monthly publication. Editors need lead time and have well-established deadlines. When thinking about doing a news release, first ask yourself: What is the objective of the release? Who is the audience?

For example, we see many releases distributed by collecting clubs announcing their upcoming annual convention. However, their convention is a "closed" convention - members only. Unless there is an unusually strong push for accepting memberships at the door, there is really no reason for a release on the upcoming convention going anywhere outside the membership. Some publications may run a release of this nature, but it simply means the publication's editor isn't thinking any better than the club leadership.

Developing a Promotion Program

It is recommended that clubs select one person to be responsible for promotion or publicity. This probably would not be an elected position, but an appointed position. It should be someone who likes `news' and who knows how to prepare a news release. This position should be responsible for all public relations and promotion. While there may also be a membership chairman, the public relations position should be responsible for disseminating releases promoting membership recruitment. The position should have a well-identified role and position description. If the club has an executive director, this position may or may not serve the capacity of handling all club promotion.

Like the membership chairman, if the club has a speakers' bureau or an exhibits chairman, or other "promotion-type" functions, the public relations chairman needs to be in full communication with these other positions and aware of their goals and needs.

For larger clubs a public relations committee, as a direct arm of the club's officers and board, is a practical way of assuring that those responsible for club promotion are planning and functioning as a team. Such a committee should include the public relations chairman, the membership chairman, annual convention chairman, newsletter and/or publications editor, webmaster, advertising manager if the club accepts advertising in its publications and/or website, and other positions as appropriate. By functioning as a `team' all promotion can be dealt with in a unified voice using a similar message, and the scheduling or timing synchronized. Not only should this save effort and prevent duplication, but it should strengthen the entire promotion program for the club.

Promotion Schedule

Although "unscheduled" news events will happen from time to time relating to unanticipated happenings, many of the club's activities with news value are known well ahead of time and should be calendarized. There should be an established plan for systematic release of news stories relating to the club's annual convention. Club projects, election of officers, club-sponsored shows or auctions, charity events, honors and awards - any number of club activities can be penciled into the schedule. Consider some releases just on your collecting area and not tired to a particular club event, or some feature releases on members and their collections.

Encourage club committee chairmen and chapter coordinators to contribute to the schedule and then to follow-up with draft releases.

Make sure your release schedule is in sync with your targeted media outlet press deadlines, particularly if some of these are quarterly or monthly publications. Be acutely aware of the lead time needed by these editors.

Promotion Contact Lists

Particularly in relationship to distribution of releases, establish a good contact list. What publications, columnists, news websites and broadcast programs are interested in your hobby area and your club? Will you distribute releases via the postal mails or by e-mail? While some smaller outlets prefer printed copy be mailed to them, more and more publications are preferring the e-mail releases.

The Association of Collecting Clubs offers clubs a free News Service and Resource Bureau reaching over a thousand media outlets - publications, columnists, wire services and syndicates, and news websites both within and outside the collecting industry. Every club should be using this service. Contact ACC at: info@collectors.org or call 301.926.8663 for further information.

Promotion "Tools"

In the broadest sense, everything a club does is a promotion "tool" - the newsletter or publication, website, annual convention, special projects... Clubs should also develop some items or tools which have the sole purpose of promotion. Several suggestions are offered:

Club Logos: Make your club logo available in various sizes and perhaps color as well as black & white. Have a log page on your website where; for example, an editor can pull down a logo image to use with a story about your club.
Rack Card: Single panel "rack cards" (approx. 8-1/2" x 3-3/4") are an inexpensive way of promoting your club at antique shops and malls, collector shows and auction houses. Make sure you have information on how to join. And, don't leave the back blank! For a few more dollars print on both sides, doubling your message space. Consider offering 1/3-1/4 of the space, either front or back, to a potential advertiser related to your collecting area to help defray part of the cost. Another good option is to design the rack card so the bottom 2" can be used as a club `business card' to be cut off and kept in a handy location by those picking up the rack cards. Remember, too, to offer small quantities of rack cards to your club membership to distribute to antique shops and malls as they travel.
Promotion Section on Club Website: Although your entire club website serves as a promotion tool and readily conveys a club's image, you may want a special section set aside to simply out and out promote the club. The section can include benefits of membership, purpose of the club, member testimonials, photos of club activities, etc. (We suggest placing club history in a different section by itself, and membership information - how to join - in its own high profile area.)
Promotion Kit: Always a good idea, use a good quality presentation portfolio with inside pockets. Materials inside can be changed to relate to the specifics of the use of the kit for any given occasion. Some of the kit contents for consideration may include a cover letter (again, probably written specifically for the current occasion), a 1-sheet history of the club, 1-sheet purpose or objectives of the club, membership numbers and member demographics, latest issue of club newsletter, flier or 1-sheet promo on annual convention, same for club website, 1-sheet promo on the collecting hobby the club supports, a sheet listing club officers and board, and perhaps committee chairs.
Club Letterhead: Promotion is image, as well as message. Having club stationery - letterhead and envelopes - look professional. Letterhead does not need to be expensive, but should be tasteful. It gives an important first image for a club.
eBay Users: Many clubs suggest to their membership that as they are dealing in Internet auctions, particularly eBay, that they mention the club to the buyers and sellers with which they communicate. This not only legitimizes them as a member of the club, but promotes the club and possibly membership recruitment. You may want to consider an "ID button" of the club logo done to eBay specifications that will identify sellers as members of your club in good standing. Contact ACC if you want details.
Exhibits: Exhibits can be a very useful promotional tool. For most situations a club exhibit designed as a table-top exhibit, and portable so it can be moved around the country, is the recommendation. We urge those developing the exhibit to find adequate resources so you can produce an exhibit for which the club will be proud. You don't have to have it produced professionally - but make it "look" professional. An exhibit with a simple message or theme is likely to have the most impact. Don't try to cram a whole lot of information or visuals on the display. Adding lighting to the exhibit usually enhances the looks and makes the message or visuals that more enticing. In constructing the exhibit, if it is to be portable, be sure to keep the carrying case or crate in mind. Having an exhibit that folds down into a fairly small parcel is usually the best. Clubs should consider a general exhibit promoting the club, but also exhibits for specific services or programs are very useful. For example, if your club has problems with reproductions, an exhibit showing the real item and the reproduction, side by side, can be extremely useful at antique shows, to loan to an antiques and collectibles mall or to a museum or gallery, or at your convention.
Offer Features: An important role for a public relations chairman might be to encourage and coordinate feature articles on the collecting area your club supports for collecting publications, general consumer magazines, radio and television programs, etc. And, this doesn't mean the public relations chairman needs to write all of these, or be the spokesperson. Find out what the expertise is of your membership and which members would be willing to do features. Have a ready file so that if a publication editor calls, you can contact a member and "deliver." Also, don't wait for the publication editor to call. It is also appropriate for you to contact them and offer a feature.
Booths at Shows: If the collecting area your club supports has some major collectible shows, or even if there are general collecting shows which cater to your area, it might be worth considering a booth at the show. This means planning, some expenses, and a staffing commitment by club leadership or membership, particularly if it is a multi-day show. All this may still make it well worthwhile if the show attendees are made up of the audiences you are attempting to reach. If you do a booth, make sure you have the appropriate handouts and other tools to insure the booth has been worthwhile.
Club Directories: There are numerous collecting club directories in the offering, both in printed form and also on the Internet. Make sure your club is listed in as many of these directories as is appropriate. Equally important, is to check these directories on a regular basis and make sure your club contact information is up-to-date. One of the best club directories is jointly operated by the Association of Collecting Clubs on their website www.collectors.org and Maloney's Antiques & Collectibles Resource Directory. It's easy to make changes by simply going up on the collectors.org website, to the directories section, and completing the update form. The ACC website also offers it's club members the opportunity for having a direct link from the Collectors.org home page to the membership application page on the club's website. It is amazing the number of clubs which change contact persons and addresses each year with changes in officers, and fail to notify any of the club directories of these changes.
Club Website: First, we encourage every club to form a club website. Period. There is no better, inexpensive method of communicating about your club to both the membership and the general public than through a website. Many collectors will be visiting your website as their very first exposure to your club. Make SURE they get a good impression! For this reason, the club webmaster is one of the most important functions for a club. The site contents should be appropriate, timely and well-presented. The site should be easy to navigate without an extreme length of time to pull down various sections. Timeliness is perhaps one of the areas where clubs fall down the most with their site. Featuring the upcoming club annual convention is great - unless the event has been over for four months! You wouldn't allow your newsletter editor to publicize an event four months after it is over, so don't let the webmaster fall down in timeliness either. Promote your website through links on other websites and on appropriate web rings. Visit the ACC program area on Internet for more information about club websites.

Promotion Budget

It is amazing the number of collecting clubs which do not even carry a promotion line item in their annual budget. It is fine to incorporate club promotion, membership recruitment and membership retention all in the same line item for budget purposes as there will be some overlap here, particularly with promotion and recruitment. If the club leadership is serious about operating a healthy, active club with sustained membership, good growth and visibility within the collecting industry, the budget line item for this area should be 10 percent of the total budget every year. If you are planning to launch a major campaign such as a fund raising campaign or membership drive, your promotion budget line item may need to be even higher.

MEMBERSHIP RECRUITMENT

Membership recruitment is an ongoing challenge for most clubs. The more involvement in recruitment by existing members, the more likelihood for expansion. Word of mouth, face-to-face contacts are still one of the best ways to recruit, and who better to do the recruiting than the membership.

Involving the Membership in Recruitment

Appointing a membership chairman, and making the position "high profile" in the club is important. Devising an ongoing campaign targeted at the existing membership, encouraging them to recruit new members, is a key to member growth.

One of the responsibilities of the membership chairman should be to develop the tools and the message for membership involvement in recruitment. One of the obvious side effects of members recruiting members is the potential for mentoring relationships to develop.

If members are excited about the club and the hobby the club supports, the more convincing and the more likely members will promote the club when they meet other collectors who are non-members of the club. For this reason, club promotion and membership recruitment go hand in hand.

Recruitment Incentives

Many clubs offer recruitment incentives to their members for bringing in new members. This may be in the form of recognition, or something more tangible. Some clubs offer members a free renewal if they bring in a certain number of new members. Contests sometimes work - the member bringing in the most new members over a year's time wins the award or the contest. In many cases this is really not a fair approach because dealers and others with broad exposure to collectors normally have a huge advantage.

Although recruitment incentive programs are fine, normally those club members who recruit new members are going to do so with or without an incentive program and other members will likely never recruit a new member, regardless of the incentive offered. In other words, by themselves, don't expect that launching an incentive program is going to have a major impact on recruiting new members.

Recruitment Tools

Recruitment "tools" are important to the success of reaching new members. Some of the ongoing functions of a club are actually recruitment tools. Certainly the club website is a recruitment tool, probably reaching more potential new members than most any other activity.

Another recruitment tool is the annual club convention. If your club currently has a closed "members only" convention, you seriously need to think about changing it. This is undoubtedly your annual `showcase' event - a perfect time to show off the club and to recruit new members. The entire convention doesn't have to be open to the public. Plan the schedule so a day or a portion of one day can be showcased to "outsiders" including potential members.

We recommend a simple membership leaflet with enrollment form be produced as a major recruitment tool. Briefly explain the objectives and services of the club, the benefits of membership, and how to join. This should deliberately be made inexpensive and offered to all members to use in recruiting, used at shows, auctions, with exhibits, as mailers, etc.

Producing a membership recruitment traveling exhibit may be helpful depending upon the club. Normally a club exhibit, along with the membership recruitment leaflets, will work just as well.

Recruitment ads in collector publications offer good visibility, but often have limited success levels. It's a good idea, if you are running ads in several publications, to code the response address so you will know which publications are working best for you.

Recruitment Suggestions

The membership chairman should plan a diversified approach to recruitment. Try new approaches. Explore new audiences, and new messages. Recruiting can be tough, but the more you analyze your approaches, the more likely you'll be in knowing what works and what doesn't work.

One simple rule - Always find out from new members how they heard about the club. These responses may speak volumes!

MEMBERSHIP RETENTION

Keeping a member in the club year after year is just as important as recruiting new members, and perhaps more so.

A collecting club needs to keep a watchful eye on the club members who do not re-new. They need to be reminded - perhaps more than once - and you need to find out why they decided not to renew their membership.

It is amazing the number of clubs which simply announce through a special mailing or their newsletter that it's time to renew and let it go at that. If a member doesn't see the announcement or simply doesn't "get around" to renewing, they're gone - perhaps forever!

The suggested formula, we believe, is first to send out the membership renewal, and second, to follow up with a reminder six to eight weeks later. Timing is important. If dues renewals come due at the end of the calendar year, don't send them out too early (members will automatically say "Oh, I've got plenty of time, and sit the renewal notice aside), or too late getting involved with the December holiday rush. Usually about one month out, i.e. Thanksgiving time, is a good time frame. Personally, we urge clubs with renewals coming due at one time each year perhaps choose a time other than January 1 for renewals. The "other time" may differ with various clubs but, for example, if your annual convention is in mid-summer, let's say July or August, you may want to have renewals come due sometime around May 1 so you can tie your renewal "pitch" to the upcoming convention.

Making Membership Renewals Easy

The easier it is to renew, the better the chance for receiving the renewals. Some of the ways that can be considered include:

Offering renews with a credit card
Renewing online through the club website
Offering multiple year memberships.

Renewal time is always a good time to give the membership a "state of the club" report on projects, accomplishments and goals. Whether this actually enhances membership renewal, or not, is hard to say, but it still should be a consideration. This suggestion, obviously, is for clubs which have all renewals come due at one time each year. If they are staggered throughout the year, a report may not be possible.

Serving New Members

It's been said that new club members are the hardest ones to keep. A collector joins a club - not yet fully committed to it - and needs to feel comfortable that they made the right decision in joining. In a way, it's a test.

Ironically, many clubs place new members in a special "probationary" category for the first year. In reality, the new member isn't "on probation" - the club is.

A club must have a procedure or program in place for automatically assisting new members. This is particularly true now, with many new members joining via the club's website, having no personal face-to-face encounter with another club member.

What type of procedure should a club have for new members? This will vary depending on the size of club, the way it is structured, and even perhaps on the collecting area the club serves. Regardless, an established, agreed upon procedure should be followed. Here are some possible components:

A welcoming letter from the president, secretary, regional vice president or other appropriate club leader. In addition to conveying the welcome, ask about the new member's collecting interests and if there is anything special the club might do to assist the new member.
Some clubs offer mentoring programs, offering the new member a club contact person they can call upon for help and advice.
If there are other club members in the same geographic area as the new member, alert them to also welcome the new member.
Encourage the new member to become active in the club by attending shows and the annual convention, joining a local chapter, volunteering for club projects or committees.

The more active a new member becomes, and the more fellow club members they meet, the more likely they are to remain in the club.

Membership Incentives

Dozens of collecting clubs offer a special, members-only annual collectible. Highly sought after, being a member is the ONLY WAY you can get one. There are some differences of opinion about such club incentives, but for some clubs, they readily admit that the annual, exclusive members-only item is the chief reason some collectors join the club - and stay in year after year.

Some pottery and glassware clubs have used this approach very successfully for years. Likewise, many of the company-sponsored "new collectibles" clubs promote this aspect of their club as a key reason for joining.

Another important point here - the limited edition member-exclusive is not just given to member collectors. Sometimes it is a part of the dues structure, but more often than not, it is promoted as an exclusive that members have an "opportunity" to purchase.

An important factor here is that the annual, member exclusive be of good quality and something members will cherish and be proud of. Determining the item, year after year, can be a challenge, but offers opportunities for creative planning, giving members something to look forward to each year.

THE MANAGEMENT OF MEMBERSHIP

Depending upon the size of the club, the responsibilities of membership management will differ. Regardless of size - no matter how small, nor how large - the accuracy of membership management is critical.

In most clubs, membership is usually handled by one of three positions - secretary, treasurer or membership chairman.

Time of Renewals: There is a continuing debate between those responsible as to what method is better: having all renewals come due all at once, e.g. the end of the calendar year, or stagger them, coming due on the members' anniversary of joining. Those that advocate the renewals come due all at once feel it's better to do it all at one time and be done with it for the year. Those who are proponents to coming due on the anniversary of joining, like it spread across the whole year so it isn't such a huge project all at one time. Regardless of the method that you use, it is crucial to keep detailed and accurate records. Only with proper documentation can you show how much is really coming in to your treasury.
Membership cards: Many clubs annually issue a membership card. If these are used during the year at events or in other ways to verify membership, then this is fine. If they are never used to verify membership, then we wonder what the purpose of the card is, and is it an unnecessary expenditure?
Computerization: No matter how large or how small your club is, it is recommended that you invest in the appropriate software to computerize the membership information and statistics. The advantages are numerous and we really can't think of a disadvantage! Granted, some software systems are better than others for club membership management, and it also may depend upon the specific needs of the individual club. We will be doing some additional research in this area and making some recommendations.