Facilitation Exercises to Clarify Your Membership Approach

Membership is at the core of associations, and considering changes to membership is a high-stakes endeavor. 

Based on McKinley’s Membership Reset report, we developed a tool with discussion prompts and exercises for high-stakes conversations on the role of membership, who it serves and the problems it solves.

Many associations jump into structural changes to membership models without first reassessing their overall strategy. The Membership Reset: Strategic Exercises resource helps leadership teams tackle crucial questions and provides a straightforward approach to optimizing membership—without oversimplifying complex issues.

This blog will cover what you need to know about the resource and how to best use it.

Download “Membership Reset: Strategic Exercises.” 

Helpful guidelines for using Membership Reset: Strategic Exercises:

1. Each exercise is designed to evaluate the current state of membership, explore future possibilities, and identify gaps to determine the extent of change needed to achieve the desired outcome.
2. As you work through each exercise, document the insights gained, highlighting areas of alignment among participants and those that may require further exploration or research.
3. Encourage participants to think creatively and explore new ideas. While the goal is to eventually establish priorities and clarity, all ideas are valuable and worth considering.

Remember, your strategy should ultimately be authentic to your mission and leverage the distinctive strengths that define your association’s culture and purpose.

Exercise 1: Clearly define the role of membership in your association.

Objective: Membership can take many forms, so start by clarifying how it currently connects to your mission and business model. Then, consider how it should evolve to meet changing member needs and your association’s operating environment.

Steps:

1. Review Common Membership Roles:
   • Begin by introducing the various roles of membership. You can reference a few common roles on page two of the Membership Reset: Strategic Exercises tool. Remember, more than one role can be at play.
   • Provide examples or case studies to illustrate how different organizations approach membership, highlighting implications for revenue and mission. For example, a mission-first model may pursue open-access constructs. At the same time, membership as a key organizing principle should work to solve problems for its members and boast a strong value proposition that goes well beyond discounting.
2. Map the Current Role of your Association’s Membership:
   • Ask participants to review each row in the provided table, indicating where they believe the association currently fits for each membership role.
   • Encourage participants to think critically about how these role(s) have impacted value, delivery and revenue.
   • Facilitate a group discussion where participants share their assessments. Explore differences in perspectives and note if there is any confusion or misalignment in perspectives.
3. Share and Refine:
   • Discuss the degree to which current membership roles set the association up for future success. Explore what needs to change or stay the same regarding how your association approaches membership.
   • Guide the group in selecting which one (or two) membership roles the organization should prioritize moving forward. Consider your culture, mission, field and the barriers associated with different approaches.
   • Document open questions and consensus. Note that this should be a strategic conversation, not a tactical one.

Exercise 2: Know who you serve with membership and who you do not.

Objective: Identify the ideal target market(s) for membership to ensure your association's focus.

Steps:

1. Introduction to Target Markets:
   • The target markets are meant to define the most promising segments for membership. This process requires a critical evaluation of your association’s competitiveness and growth opportunities.
   • Remind participants that this exercise should involve making tough choices about which markets to prioritize and which to de-prioritize in membership efforts.
2. Brainstorm Markets and Evaluate Strategic Position:
   • Outline characteristics of the market(s) your association could serve through membership; be generative and go broad. Consider factors such as job roles, levels, organization types, geographies/ regions, tenures, industries/sectors verticals and more.
   • Evaluate where the association currently has strong membership penetration, indicating a leadership position.
   • Next, examine how this intersects with growth indicators for target market ideas. In other words, is the market expanding, evolving or shrinking?
3. Share and Refine:
   • Identify areas where there is clarity and where further research or discussion may be needed.
   • Summarize key takeaways and prioritize the top three target markets and their defining characteristics.

Exercise 3: Define the problem you are solving for your members through membership.

Objective: Clarify the core problem your association solves for members to ground your value proposition and adequate attention on the right set of benefits.

Steps:

1. Articulate Member Needs:
   • Brainstorm the core needs of each target member market. What problems are members facing in their professional lives, careers or industries/ fields? What tasks/ jobs are they trying to complete? What pain points are they experiencing while trying to complete these jobs (i.e., inefficiencies, unmet needs, etc.)?
   • Connect this to the one, or maybe two, most consequential ways membership solves for that problem or need.  
2. Develop a Compelling Membership Statement:
   • Develop a compelling statement that explains why an individual or company should become a member.
   • Ensure this statement reflects the problem membership is solving. This could include functional value (i.e., practical/useful/tangible benefit), social (how membership affects a member’s status/relationships/how they are perceived), or emotional (i.e., feelings/experiences that tie a member to an association community). Members may also have a strong vested interest in the association's mission impact.
3. Identify Competitive Advantage:
   • Lead the group in identifying the organization’s unique strengths and competitive advantages.
   • Discuss what the association offers that no one else does and what members will say about their experience.
4. Share and Refine:
   • Facilitate a discussion to compare the similarities and differences in participants' value propositions.
   • Identify the product features, benefits and messaging that effectively support the value proposition.
   • Determine which areas of the membership offering may need to be adjusted or refocused to better meet member needs.

Wrap up

Recap the outputs of each exercise and discuss the next steps for the membership development process.

The team can revisit these key areas regularly to ensure their approach remains aligned with the evolving goals and member needs of their association.

Contact us for a tailored membership strategy discussion. 

Our expert consultants have unparalleled experience in evaluating, developing and testing membership models for trade associations and professional societies. We help association leaders understand how their current approach meets members' needs and identifies opportunities for strategic growth.