EAI : Management Services

One of the most important measures of an association’s vitality is its membership growth – the compound result of recruitment and retention. A vital and visionary association attracts and retains members. Members are an important source of revenue. They typically purchase over 85% of an association’s programs.

EAI has extensive experience in developing and executing successful membership recruitment and retention campaigns for a broad range of associations. Our marketing professionals work hand-in-hand with volunteer leaders to conduct interviews and analyze existing data and industry information to fully understand the trends, challenges and opportunities for growing an organization's membership. This approach drives the development of communication strategies and compelling creative platforms and high-impact tactics.

Recruitment begins with an aggressive agenda of program initiatives that are important to current and potential members. Specific tactics may include:

A needs assessment to determine the services of greatest importance to your members
Opinion surveys to help gauge perceptions about the association and its competitors
Focus group sessions to determine the interests and motivations of potential members and current members

Retention is an important issue for all associations. If a nonprofit organization cannot retain its current members, it will not remain viable. In order to practice good retention, an organization must identify strategies that work and have an information system for tracking results. EAI has developed an effective retention model for its client organizations. Retention rates consistently outperform the association industry average.

EAI’s overall bottom-line performance is reflected in positive membership growth rates for all of its clients.