Membership Recruitment and Retention
Contents
Getting Started: General Information
Recruiting and Retaining Members
Membership Benefits
Corporate Membership
Student Membership
Templates
Membership Best Practices
IABC Staff
Goal Setting
At the beginning of the year, set a goal for membership growth.
As a benchmark you may want to follow IABC International's goals
of a 10% increase in membership, driven by 80% retention and then
however many new members you'd need to grow your chapter by 10%.
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Membership Management
IABC offers up-to-date online membership reports in the Membership
Management Area (MMA) of our website (www.iabc.com/MMA) These reports
show you the status of your entire membership including who has
joined, renewed and expired. In addition you will find demographic
information and a function that allows you to email the entire
chapter at once. In order to maintain our members' privacy, only
certain chapter board positions (including the membership director)
have access to this area of the website.
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Recruitment Checklist
This document was created to help you manage your recruitment
activities by month, quarter and year. It also gives tips on things
you may want to try.
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Chapter membership months
Headquarters hosts international member months twice a year, but chapters can also choose one additionalchapter membership month each calendar year as well. This means that new or lapsed members in your chapter who join or re-join IABC don’t have to pay the application fee. The chapter still receives its full chapter dues for each member who signs up. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to offer new and lapsed members a discount; IABC prospective members really respond to this promotion. To sign up, simply email member_relations@iabc.com with your choice of month. Again, there is no cost to the chapter; IABC headquarters absorbs the cost of the program.
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Benefits of Membership: Talking
points for chapter leaders
The most frequently asked question you'll hear is "Why
should I join IABC? What's in it for me?" The best answer?
Tell them about your experience. What has membership done for you?
Or tell them about the Three Cs or about how IABC can benefit their
organization.
The Three Cs - Community,
Credibility & Content
Community:
- IABC is the largest Worldwide association for communication
professionals. When you join you tap into a network of your
peers to make vital business connections and meet your next
collaborators, mentors, job referrals, and lifelong friends.
Credibility:
- Membership in IABC defines you as a communication professional
whose is dedicated to achieving business success for your organization
or client.
- The Accreditation program allows you to demonstrate your
level of expertise in the field of communication and earn the
designation ABC.
- The Annual Gold Quill Awards program allows your best work
to be evaluated and recognized.
Content:
- Our professional development programs such as the International
Conference, seminars, workshops and webinars help you develop
your business skills.
- IABC's Knowledge Centre products give you expert guidance and
analysis on today's most critical business issues and step-by-step
instruction to help you craft effective communication plans.
- The Research Foundation offers studies that identify current
trends and the links between effective communication and business
success.
- Communication World Magazine provides expert
commentary on ground breaking topics and is the premier magazine
of the communication profession.
You can also develop your leadership and managerial skills in a
non-work environment by becoming a volunteer IABC leader.
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Top Ten Benefits of IABC for Your Organization
By Tom Geddie, ABC
10. To increase awareness of the need to look forward and gain
the ability to begin managing new issues now
9. To increase knowledge about and insight into issues important
to your organization
8. To expand contacts with the best people to hire
7. To get outside evaluation to improve future efforts
6. To develop and improve technical skills
5. To improve project/people management and leadership skills, including
negotiation and mediation
4. To find experts to help move you and your organization ahead
3. To meet representatives from companies with products and services
to make your work more efficient and effective
2. To gain insight into how the best in the business have met today's
critical communication challenges, and adapt these ideas for
your own projects
1. To keep up with cutting-edge research about communication issues,
trends, and patterns that help contribute to your organization's
bottom line
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How to Recruit and Retain Members:
These tips will help you reach your goals for membership growth.
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Corporate Package Memberships
Corporate Packages
Corporate packages offer discounts to five or more employees from the same company. To initiate a package, contact IABC Headquarters at member_relations@iabc.com with a list of the people in the group and their location(s). Package members do not have to be located in the same place.
Payment for all members must be made with one check or one credit card charge. Dues for current IABC members will be pro-rated according to time left on the membership.
A higher value "Gold Plus" package is also available in addition to the discount packages, offering on-site training, PR opportunities for the company, and special pricing on IABC products and events.
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Staff Contacts:
Member Relations: member_relations@iabc.com
Leader Centre: Leader_Centre@iabc.com
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