chapters

Templates and Tools

Complete resource kits designed to help IABC leaders manage their chapters and regions easily and effectively.

A Step-by-Step Program Guide for Your Membership Marketing Campaign

Welcome and thank you for participating in the membership marketing campaign. As a communication professional, you know that your communication colleagues are very busy people who will only invest their time in ways meaningful to their growth. They want information on and training in a wide variety of issues and skills. Indeed, their current jobs and future advancement depend on these factors. They want to develop a network of resources and contacts that will build value for their future.

What does this mean to IABC and your chapter? To retain your current members, you must provide them with opportunities for professional development, information and information sources and networking. You will need a rich representation of professional communicators and the resources to provide good programming.

And that means new members.

New members will bring your current members:

• new ideas
• new contacts
• new opportunities and
• experiences and resources to keep us fresh and challenged

They also help provide a revenue stream that supports programming benefiting everyone. New members are definitely worth the effort it takes to find them. Yet while growth is essential to keep our organization vital, membership growth doesn't happen automatically. It takes good tools, effective planning and solid implementation. This step-by-step program guide provides you with the tips and strategies you need to meet your membership recruitment goals!

Your prospective members must join in the month you designated on your registration form. You will be receiving special applications noting the designated month and the discounted dues about four weeks before your chapter's month. Remember, for the discount to apply, we must receive these applications, with payment, in the chosen month. Get them to your prospective members early.

Please contact Leader Services if you have any questions. Thanks again for supporting IABC's recruitment efforts!

Table of Contents

Plan your membership marketing campaign

"Plan your work. Work your plan."

It's essential to have your entire chapter leadership working in the same direction. Toward that end, we suggest you photocopy the campaign outline and distribute it to your fellow board members before your planning meeting.

1 .Pick a campaign leader. This might be your vice president of membership or a strong task force director. Your leader must become familiar with all aspects of this program, direct and coordinate volunteers, and keep your chapter board informed. This is a critical job, so pick someone who has drive and enthusiasm and make sure they recruit a committee.

2. Be sure everyone understands and buys into your chapter's special recruitment campaign objectives.

3. Review the list of "Task force leaders and assignments." Appoint responsible individuals who will follow through and see that each assignment is accomplished.

4. Review the steps of the campaign and make sure each individual understands how his or her part affects the campaign's overall success.

5. Develop your time frame for completing tasks. Make sure your volunteers understand what is required and what their deadlines are.

6. Determine a realistic budget. You'll need to handle expenses such as: meeting rooms, AN equipment, invitations, speakers and refreshments. If you charge a nominal fee for current members, look at inviting the prospects for free. If there is additional expense, designate an amount you're willing to spend on new member promotion. This would be a good time to discuss any incentives your chapter might offer prospects to get them to join during the month you specify. Only your board can decide what is right for your chapter. However, it is essential that your campaign planners know what the budget expectations are from the beginning. Keep in mind -- this is a sales campaign. The more memberships you sell, the more money your chapter makes in the long run. Sometimes it pays to take a small short-term risk for a greater long-term return.

7. Set a goal! People tend to get more enthusiastic when they're working toward a goal. On your chapter registration form we asked you for the number of prospects you were including in this campaign and how many of those you'd target as new members. We'll be tracking those numbers for you and provide you with your end result at the end of your campaign. We expect this campaign to support your goals as well as IABC's goals for new members -- that's why it's very important that you use the special applications provided. Without this measurement of success, we won't be able to determine whether the components provided effectively support your efforts.

Identify prospective members

"I would have joined IABC some time ago, but no one ever asked me."

Here are profile suggestions that have worked for chapters:

Look for a mix of people: male and female; different ages; different communication specialties; multicultural representation; corporate, nonprofit, independent and consulting firms -- try to achieve a balance. Look for a mixture of career experiences. Don't be afraid that senior communicators won't be interested in being with entry-level practitioners. This shouldn't be a concern as long as your programming offers something to both groups. Conferences and international connections are of special interest to seasoned communicators. Ask your members for prospect names. Include a hot prospect form in your newsletter and make them available at meetings. Call on your members to help create your prospect file.

Most IABC chapters have memberships composed of communication staffs of large local corporations, with a growing number of members in agencies and workings as independents. Take a look at your membership and see how it stacks up. You may see some opportunities:

Corporate communicators -- Make a list of the large and mid-sized companies in your area. Do you have representatives from all of them? Do you know the names of their communication professions? A phone call to each business can give you the names of those individuals without your ever having to talk to them in person.

Agencies and consultancies -- Business marketing communication appeals to firms specializing in employee communication and benefits planning, advertising, public relations, marketing and even sales. These consulting firms bring rich perspectives to your chapter, because they work for diverse clients (who in turn might want to become members).

Independents -- This market is growing substantially, due to downsizing and the availability of technologies such as desktop publishing. Because these individuals essentially work alone, they're often quite appreciative of the professional interaction IABC offers.

Involve your members

The secret to successful membership drives is to involve all your current members in finding new prospects. Your members know best who they'd like to associate with, and nothing convinces like a personal testimonial. So, if everyone knows good membership candidates, why aren't we recruiting all year long? We should be. But there are three major reasons why most of us don't:

• We're too busy. We have other priorities, both within and outside  IABC. Recruiting is one more thing to do, and it's rarely in the front of our minds.
  
• We're uncomfortable with "selling." We aren't sure how to present IABC's benefits.
• We're shy. We aren't motivated, and frankly it's easier to let someone else worry about membership marketing.

To get your membership involved in prospecting, make the process simple and painless.

1. Have one of your chapter leaders explain the importance of membership growth at the beginning of a regular chapter meeting and include an article on the subject in your chapter newsletter. Communicate your goal and the role members will play in achieving that goal.

2. Promote your 2000 Membership Marketing Campaign to your members. Tell them when and where the New Member Meeting will be and what the program will feature. Remember to promote the incentives that will be available to new members who join during your special membership month.

3. Describe the profile of a hot prospect and where those prospects might be found.

4. Ask your meeting attendees to think of people they know who fit the profile description. Most people will probably be able to think of several names. Assure your existing members that they do not have to contact the person themselves. Of course, if they would like to volunteer to work on the campaign -- sign them up!

5. Pass out the prospect forms and ask your meeting attendees to fill them out beforethey leave. Members should be encouraged to take extra forms with them.

6. Include a hot prospect form, accompanied by a personalized letter of explanation from you or your president, with your next meeting announcement or newsletter mailing.

7. Have your president call senior members and accredited members to specifically request their help in identifying hot prospects. Be sure to get the prospects' telephone numbers and addresses.

Build a prospect database

Where can you find prospects (and their address information)?

• From your own chapter's current list of prospects -- people who have attended a chapter meeting or have entered your chapter awards program. These people are your hottest prospects since they've been interested enough to participate in some way.
• From the Hot Prospect sheets filed out by your members. These prospects are already qualified since your members recommended them.
• From areas your members might have overlooked. Corporate communication specialists might forget that their department head is a prospect. Agencies and independents often forget that their clients are prospects.
• From membership lists of other communication organizations. Some other organizations to check include: your local advertising federation, BAIE, IPRA, PRSA, AWIC, AMA, your local writer's guild. Some of these organizations may sell or swap their lists. It's a good idea to maintain a courteous and professional working relationship with other professional organizations. Be sure to review the names and titles on the lists so you select only those appropriate for your chapter membership.
• From well-known local companies that are not currently represented in your membership. Maybe the communicators in these organizations are new in town. Maybe they have an insular corporate culture. Why not make a list of obvious absentees (use your Chamber of Commerce membership directory, or it's equivalent, as a guide) and assign a few task force members to make calls to determine these professionals' status.
• From local business press announcements and articles on possible candidates. This is a great assignment for a [one volunteer who can only help after hours or at home. Many local business papers publish a Book of Lists that can yield some valuable prospect information.
• From lists purchased through a direct mail house. This could be expensive, and you don't retain control of the list afterward.
• From IABC headquarters. The staff keeps a record of every hot prospect that contacts them for membership information. All those prospects are then passed on to the local chapters, but in case you're missing these, call IABC member records (415) 544-4700 and ask for your list.

Keep track of your prospects

Many chapters can handle this expanded list by whatever method is currently used to  
maintain their membership lists and simply "code" these prospects differently.  
Or you may find a volunteer who is willing to build your list for this one-time promotion but  
not able to maintain it on any kind of regular basis. When you're through with this  
campaign, your volunteer can give you a disk containing the information.  
Depending on your resources, you could hire a professional to handle the list. Be  
prepared to pay a set up fee, a monthly fee to maintain and make changes to the list, and  
a fee every time you want labels. On the other hand, you will know your list is safe. Also,  a professional will generally do labeling, sorting and mailing for you.

Another option is to maintain your prospect list manually... not a good option.

Plan your new member meeting

There are several objectives you need to accomplish during your New Member Meeting.

1. Make your prospects and members feel welcome (networking and refreshments)

2. Explain the purpose and nature of IABC (international, region and chapter)

3. Acquaint your prospects with professional development and networking opportunities, as well as information and information sources available through IABC (see page 21)

4. Present a stimulating program of professional value to both your prospects and your members

5. Give your prospects an opportunity to join and take advantage of the special incentives available for this limited time

Where and what time of day you have your meeting is strictly a function of your members' preference and budget. Naturally, a pleasant atmosphere and tasteful refreshments will reflect well on your chapter, but that need not mean a seven-course dinner at the Waldorf. A brown bag lunch in a corporate meeting room can be just as conducive to effective networking. The enthusiasm of your people and the quality of your programming will make the difference.

Plan your agenda to allow ample time to accomplish each of the objectives outlined above. If you have membership announcements you may want to cover them in a flyer you hand out in advance or with brief announcements you make at the end. Remember, this is a sales presentation, and it would be a mistake to interrupt your prospects' concentration with lengthy membership business that doesn't interest them.

Your prospects will want to know what benefits they can expect if they decide to join IABC. This is an area in which you must be specific and show tangible evidence. This part of the program may be a good reminder for your current members as well.

Display membership literature -- Show tangible evidence of some of the benefits IABC provides its members, such as:

• Invitations or agendas from your past chapter meetings  
• International Conference promotional brochures  
• Awards that have been presented to your members from local, district and international competitions  
• Copies of your chapter newsletter and/or chapter brochure
• Copies of the IABC membership brochure
• Framed copies of Accreditation certificates (assuming you have some ABCs who will loan them to you)

Testimonials from your members -- Ask two or three of your regular members to stand up and give two-minute testimonials on how IABC has enhanced their careers. Try to get both senior and entry-level communicators who will address the different ways in which their participation has helped them grow.

Program topic

We suggest the topic be related to the future of communication. This is an issue that should interest communicators at all levels, whether they are students or CEOs, and allows for a wide variety of programming discussions and speakers.

Here are some ideas:

1 .Have a panel of senior-level communicators or a panel of corporate senior executives discuss the topic from their vantage points. Give each speaker a set amount of time to state his or her views, then let the panel entertain questions from the audience. (Have a few questions prepared to ask ahead of time to encourage audience participation.)

2. Invite a "futurist" to speak. Your local university's communication department is likely to have a professor who would be qualified to speak on this topic. It might be an interesting counterpoint to also invite the chief of a headhunting firm. He or she can contrast academic view with the job placement opportunities that occur in the "real world."

3. Invite a speaker to address the globalization of communication or innovations in technology -- How will they affect the future of our profession? An international marketing director or an executive from an international communication firm might be a good candidate.

4. Arrange round-table discussion groups. Make a list of business trends for the 1990s and share them with the audience. Then have everyone divide into small groups and give each a trend to discuss. After 15 or 20 minutes, have the audience come back together. Spokespeople from each group can tell how their team members think these trends will affect our profession and how we should take them into consideration when planning our careers.

5. Invite your regional director or someone from the international board to speak on a topic related to the future of our profession. Contact headquarters and talk to the staff in charge of IABC's speakers bureau to see who is easily available and appropriate for your meeting. IABC has many fine speakers among its senior communicators.

Train your members to be ambassadors

The chapter is the first and most important point of delivery for IABC services. Your chapter will only be as strong as your membership. If your members want to grow, they'll have to convince your prospects that new members are welcomed, valued and supported. The key to a successful campaign is planning. Share your New Member Meeting hospitality plans with your members through your newsletter, so they will know what is expected of them.

Here are some ideas to help assure your prospects are well cared for:

1. Appoint a special welcome committee. Ask your more outgoing members to arrive at the meeting early so you can brief them. Their mission is to seek out your guests, give them a warm welcome and introduce them to others. Your committee members need to be identifiable -- a colored ribbon or name tag -- and your guest should be informed of these members' purpose when they check in. All board members are good candidates to serve in this function.

2. "Welcome" begins at the registration table. Guest tend to arrive at the same time, and hospitality too often is lost in the rush to process everyone. Plan ahead to have plenty of volunteers staffing the table so all your prospects feel this meeting was planned especially for them. Be sure to keep a record of each guest -- ask them to sign a guest register or toss their business card into a bowl.

3. Make sure your prospects are identifiable. Perhaps you will want to write members' names in one color and guests' names in another on the name tags. Be sure your members understand this difference so they can make your guests feel comfortable.  

4. Welcome your guests from the podium. The meeting leader will want to express how happy you are to see so many people who care about the future of communication. Introduce the people who are best suited to answer any questions your guest might have.

5. Ask your guest to stand up and introduce themselves to the audience. Ask everyone to introduce themselves, where they work and where they hope they'll be in the next year.You'll need to consider the size of your group before doing this.

6. Thank your guests for coming before they leave. Be sure they know who is available to answer any further questions they might have.

Invite your prospects to join

A sampling of chapter leaders were recently asked, "Do you regularly invite guests to join IABC at your monthly meetings?" Less than one-third said they made it part of their regular meeting agenda! Yet almost all chapters admitted that at a typical meeting one third to one-half of the attendees are non-members. Ask yourself: Why should a prospect believe a chapter views his or her membership as important if no one extends an invitation to join?

One of the first rules of selling: Make it easy for the buyer to buy. IABC makes it easy. We've enclosed the special campaign applications for you and an order form to order membership brochures and back issues of Communication World. Have these materials available at your event to give to your prospects.

There are three ways a prospect can join:

1 .Fill out the membership application and mail it to IABC world headquarters with a check or credit card information.

2. Call IABC headquarters and join over the phone with a credit card. New members taking advantage of the special offer by joining during your campaign period simply need to tell the staff person taking down the information.

3. Fax the membership application to IABC with credit card information. Now your job is easy. Be sure to close your meeting by thanking your guest for attending. Clearly spell out one more time how they can take advantage of the special limited-time offer from IABC. Make sure no guest leaves without someone putting membership information in his or her hands.
 

Follow-up with your prospects

Now is the time your guest register (or the stack of business cards collected) becomes very valuable. You should have a record of all the prospects who attended your special meeting. Follow up by mail within one week. A sample thank you letter can be found on page 19. Mail each of your guests such a letter, whether or not you've spoken to them in person during or after the meeting. Follow up by phone in two weeks. By now your prospect should have responded to your call for action, but a phone conversation can serve as one last reminder that time is running out. During the conversation you will have a chance to ask how they liked the meeting, and to remind them of upcoming functions you have planned.

Make sure you have an orientation packet prepared to welcome each new member to your chapter. You may want to include a chapter directory, flyers announcing upcoming meetings, volunteer opportunities (the best time to recruit volunteers is right after they've joined) and a special welcome letter from your president.

And -- don't forget sending your hot prospect lists to headquarters means you'll have an international membership development partner, providing additional telemarketing and support.

• Review materials  
• First planning meeting  
• Collect prospect names  
• Build mailing list  
• Plan program
• Confirm space, speaker
• Print meeting announcement  
• Mail announcements
• Prepare welcoming activities  
• New Member Meeting  
• Follow up letters, calls  
• Send names of prospects who attended to headquarters  
• Mail new member welcome kit

Task force leaders and assignments

• (Complete and distribute to all campaign volunteers)

Campaign leader: Phone/Fax

________________________________________________________________

directs campaign, reports to board, coordinates volunteers

Prospect database leader:

_________________________________________________________________

directs prospect research, prepares lists and labels, direct mailing

Meeting planner:

_________________________________________________________________

plans program and speaker(s), arranges facilities and refreshments

Hospitality leader:

_________________________________________________________________

trains greeters, arranges welcome table, alerts members

Prospect follow up leader:

___________________________ _____________________________________

contacts prospects and asks again for the prospect to sign-up

Other volunteers:

Name                                      Assignment                          Phone                 Fax

_____________________ ____________________ ____________ ___________

_____________________ ____________________ ____________ ___________

_____________________ ____________________ ____________ ___________

_____________________ ____________________ ____________ ___________

_____________________ ____________________ ____________ ___________

_____________________ ____________________ ____________ ___________

_____________________ ____________________ ____________ ___________

Critical dates for your marketing campaign

(These dates work backward from your New Member Meeting. Be sure all your board members and task force leaders have copies of this schedule.)

New Member Meeting: ________________

Mail meeting announcements: ________________

Complete announcement printing: ________________

Complete program planning and announcement copy: ________________

Complete prospect list- ________________

Contact members to submit prospect names:________________

Confirm membership campaign leader: ________________

Don't forget to schedule times for:

Planning sessions: ________________

Follow up letters and calls after the New Member Meeting: ________________

Prospect names sent to IABC headquarters ________________

IABC Hot Prospect Form

Referring Member:__________________________ Telephone:______________

Prospect Name: ____________________________ Title:__________________

Organization:________________________________________________________

Address:___________________________________________________________

( ) I'm not sure of this person's information. Call me and I'll check it out for you.

( ) You can reach this prospect at ______________ - to confirm the address.

(phone)

Referring Member:__________________________ Telephone:______________

Prospect Name: ___________________________ Title:___________________

Organization:________________________________________________________

Address:___________________________________________________________

( ) I'm not sure of this person's information. Call me and I'll check it out for you.

( ) You can reach this prospect at ______________ - to confirm the address.

Thank you for your help in identifying potential members for our Membership Marketing campaign. To give your prospects proper time to respond to the New Member Meeting announcement, we must have complete address information no later than ___________________. If you would like more information on our membership campaign and New Member Meeting, please contact ________________________ at_____________________.

Letter to solicit prospect names from chapter members

Date

Inside address

Dear Colleague,

I'm excited, and I can't wait to tell you the good things ahead for (chapter name) in the next few months. I think [ABC's membership marketing slogan, "Join the Association That's Changing the Way Business Communicates," describes perfectly what we have to offer new members this year. And with your help, we're going to launch an aggressive membership marketing campaign that forcefully delivers this message to our key prospects.

IABC is providing a special limited-time incentive that will make IABC membership more attractive to the people we want to reach. The campaign also includes an incentive for our chapter to recruit new members. But we need your help to identify our prime prospects and to provide the personal touch that can make the difference between "yes" and "no" in these critical times.

As I said, IABC is waiving half the initiation fee for each new member who joins during our campaign month of . In addition the other half of the fee will be rebated to us as an incentive to recruit new members. (Name) is heading our local marketing campaign.

Here's how you fit in...

First, please note the date our meeting on your calendar and plan to join us. Our current members are always our most valuable asset, and your hospitality will make our guest feel more welcome. Second, please take a moment and jot down the names of some of your communication colleagues who would benefit from belonging to IABC. They can be in corporate communication, with agencies or nonprofit groups or work as independents ... but their involvement in the association will enrich us all.

Our committee will send a special meeting announcement to the people you recommend. The prospects may never know that you submitted their names, so we encourage you to remind them of our special meeting in their honor. Invite them personally to join you on (date, time) and offer to introduce them to other communication professionals.

Please submit these names and addresses as soon as possible, but definitely no later than (date). This small task may be one of the most valuable things you do all year to support your IABC chapter, so feel free to submit as many prospects' names as you feel would benefit from membership in IABC.

I look forward to seeing you at all our functions, but especially at our New Member Meeting. There we will be encouraging our prospects to "join the association that's changing the way business communicates."

(signed)

Vice president, membership development (or chapter president)

Follow up letter to prospects

Date

Inside address

Dear (Name),

Thanks so much for taking time out of your schedule to join us for IABC's New Member Meeting last week. We hope you found the program stimulating and enjoyed the camaraderie of our members. We certainly enjoyed getting to know you, and look forward to welcoming you as a fellow IABC member.

I remind you that your paid application needs to be received at our headquarters in San Francisco no later than (date) so that you may take advantage of our new member incentive -- 50 percent off the new member application fee. (Or 100 percent, if that is the case). Why not go ahead and join today?

It was our pleasure seeing you, and I look forward to getting to know you better at our meetings. It's people like you who will help us continue to "change the way business communicates."

(signed)

Vice president, membership development (or president)

P.S. If you have any questions or need more information, please feel free to contact (name) at (telephone).

Order extra membership recruiting material

Inside the US and Canada materials are sent by regular UPS (approximately 7-10 working  
days for delivery). Other destinations will be sent by the most cost-effective and timely  
delivery system (usually courier).

Quantity:

_____ Membership brochure (and mailing envelope) - describing IABC, its mission and  
the benefits of membership (Free) (Quantity limited to 100 brochures)

_____ Communication World copies (the number of back issues available are limited  
and we will invoice you for shipping. In case only current issues are available we will  
contact you about cost)

Please send the above materials to:

_____________________________________________________________________

name

_____________________________________________________________________

company/organization

_____________________________________________________________________

street address (no PO Boxes, please)

_____________________________________________________________________

city state/province zip/postal code

_____________________________________________________________________

telephone

_____________________________________________________________________

chapter name

Please complete and return this form to Member Relations at IABC headquarters,  
601 Montgomery Street, Suite 1900, San Francisco, CA 94111, USA or FAX (415) 362-8762 or
e-mail Leader Centre at Leader_Centre@iabc.com

Benefits of being an active member of IABC

What does IABC offer me?