The future of membership ammc presentation 2011

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The Future of Membership

American Museum Membership Conference!Philadelphia, PA!

October 26, 2011!

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§  Introductions

§  Trends and Transactions

§  Culture Track

§  The Interactive Imperative

§  The Membership Profession and The Pulse of Membership

§  Q&A and Conclusion

Agenda

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Introductions Dana Hines Membership Consultants!

dana@membership–consultants.com

Noreen Ahmad LaPlaca [email protected]

Rosie Branstetter [email protected]

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Trends and Transactions

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§  Demographics.

§  How we transact membership.

§  Expectation of discounts.

§  Who our members are.

§  How we get and keep members.

§  The membership profession.

A Changing Landscape

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A Case Study: The Houston Zoo

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§  Set in a 55-acre lush tropical landscape, the Houston Zoo is home to more than 6,000 exotic animals representing more than 800 species.

§  The Houston Zoo has an annual attendance of more than 1.8 million visitors along with 45,200 member households.

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2010 U.S. Demographics

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, 16% of the!population is Hispanic. This is expected to rise!from 16% to 30% by 2050.

§  A higher percentage of Houston’s population is!Hispanic than most of the country.

§  In 2000, 37% of the Houston population was!Hispanic of any race and 61% were born!outside of the United States.

§  However, only 10% of the Zoo’s membership!base is Hispanic.

The Houston Zoo

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Introduction §  Demographically, Hispanic guests were not buying!

memberships at the rate of their attendance at the!Zoo (10% vs. 38%).

§  Working with researchers from Rice University, the Zoo examined this issue.

§  Findings: The Zoo’s Hispanic consumers did not!react well to the term “membership.”

§  The Zoo decided to implement a Season Pass to!achieve an increase in Hispanic participation.

Goal §  To engage interest in membership programs from!

additional ethnic groups, with a strong focus on the!Hispanic market.

The Houston Zoo

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Key Operational Methods §  Created a six month individual pass in the summer!

of 2010 and named it Houston Zoo Season Pass.

§  Adult passes were $15 and children passes!were $12.

§  The only benefits attached to the pass were free admission for six months and usage of the member express entrance.

The Houston Zoo

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Key Operational Methods §  No ticket upgrades were allowed with the passes.

§  The pass was marketed and sold only onsite.

§  Table set up in front of the Zoo with Spanish signage to sell the passes.

−  Staffed with 2 Hispanic sales representatives!and 3 application processors.

−  Anyone could buy the pass but marketing was!driven toward the Hispanic market.

§  The passes were sold over two weekends at the end of July and beginning of August.

The Houston Zoo

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Results

§  Sold more than 1,200 passes in 4 days.

§  Able to target multiple family sizes.

§  Passes assisted in driving attendance to the Zoo.

§  Guaranteed revenue from pass holders.

The Houston Zoo

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How We Transact!Membership

§  How are people joining?

§  How are they renewing?

§  Are direct mail and telemarketing dead?

§  Should all communications and transactions be electronic?

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Gen Y 20-30 yrs

Gen X 31-46 yrs

Boomers 47-65 yrs

Checkout donation (This is comparable to onsite sales!)

48% 57% 52%

Check by mail 26 43 54

Gift shop 28 35 32

Website 29 35 31

Third-party vendor 25 27 17

Phone 8 10 16

Monthly debit 11 17 14

Mobile/Text 14 13 4

Social networking site 9 6 4

� ��

How We Transact!Membership

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The Expectation !of Discounts

§  People are living by discounts.

§  Internal decisions to discount.

§  External means of discounting—Groupon and !Living Social.

– Memberships.

– Admissions.

§  Membership IS a discount.

§  What is happening to our perceived value of membership?

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Who Are Our!Members?

§  Know your member profile.

§  Age, presence of children, geographic pockets.

§  Target audiences.

§  What each market segment might be looking for in their membership relationship.

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The Biggest Issues!!Acquisitions

§  How to define, then find, new audiences.

§  Demographics are changing in the U.S., how do we make museums an attractive lifestyle choice?

§  How to engage a younger audience . . . is this!possible?

§  Should you be customizing solicitations by different!audience interest groups?

§  Should you be customizing your membership levels!by different interest options?

§  Mission vs. value members—how will you balance these motivations for joining?

How We Get and Keep Members

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Onsite Solicitations Become!More Important §  More challenging to find new prospects.

§  Work with your visitors, but even smarter.

§  Gain new members and collect:

−  Names.

−  Addresses.

−  Emails.

−  Interests.


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Renewals

§  How best to gain new members’ loyalty?

§  How to deliver an experience that satisfies year!after year?

§  Which will be the best solicitation strategies for!highest ROI—mail, email, 2-year members?

§  Where does discounting fit in terms of renewals for the future? It’s the mission vs. value motivation again.

§  First year renewals are the toughest—so make the first year more memorable.

§  Engaging welcome packet/communications/events.


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Special Importance for Renewals §  Some things never change . . .

§  Know your numbers.

– What are your renewal rates?

– How are people renewing?

– Why are they not renewing?


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Whole Institution Approach §  Collaborate fully with education, curatorial, visitor!

services, and marketing to ensure the promised!membership experience is delivered.

§  Develop new member welcome strategy.

§  Keep it fresh!


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Maintain BEST PRACTICES §  Know your numbers.

§  Be alert to new ideas and receptive to change.

§  Test new ideas.

§  Before you change the program, can you and your organization deliver the experience?

§  Without risk there are no new great ideas!


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Multi-Everything (Cultural,!Generational, Interest) §  Make your museum a valued lifestyle choice for

groups who have not traditionally been part of !your plan.

§  Be you, but reach out—how to do this best?


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The Interactive Imperative

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The Interactive!Imperative

How to use online social media and mobile to!increase membership:

§  Awareness.

§  Engagement.

§  Conversion.

§  Retention.

52 SOURCE: Museum Next

53 SOURCE: Museum Next

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The Mobile Revolution

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The Mobile!Revolution

§  There are 5.3 billion active mobile devices in the!world (that’s 70% of the world’s population).

§  By the end of 2011, over 85% of hand-sets will be!able to access the mobile web.

§  There were over 6.1 trillion text messages sent !in 2010.

§  Smartphones will overtake feature phones in the!U.S. in 2012.

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Getting More Memberships Online

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Getting More!Memberships!Online

§  Best practices in user experience.

§  Winning with promotions and contests.

§  Converting site visitors into members.

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Winning With Contests and Promotions

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Converting Online Visitors to Members

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Converting !Online Visitors !to Members

Give-to-Get §  Premium content.

§  Enhanced personalized content.

§  Free content.

§  Discounts.

§  Online community.

§  Insider scoop.

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Optimize the Registration!Process §  Shorten the registration form.

§  Adopt a progressive disclosure model.

§  Leverage the user’s existing identities.

Converting !Online Visitors !to Members

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Pulse of Membership 2011

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What is Pulse of Membership? §  A survey of membership programs nationally.

§  An ongoing membership tracking survey, performed four times since the economic downturn.

§  Data collected from a pool of 2,000 membership managers, with approximate response rate of 10% each time.

§  A survey conducted by Membership Consultants as a service to the field to monitor the status of membership programs in challenging fundraising times.

Pulse of!Membership 2011

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What Does Pulse of Membership!Explore? §  Membership statistics and trends.

§  Membership tools used and with what level of success.

§  Tracks and compares membership by types of!organizations: museums, gardens, zoos.

§  New in 2011: membership salary and position!statistics.


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How Can I Access the Full Survey? Visit MembershipConsultants.wordpress.com to view a copy of the full survey.


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Membership Revenue §  Account for 8% to 15% of an organization’s overall!

operating revenue.

§  Some organizations are viewing membership!revenue as “earned” revenue rather than donated!revenue.


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Membership Reporting Structure §  Historically part of development departments.

§  In the zoo and aquarium world, membership!reporting structure is:

– 38% to development.

– 31% to marketing.

– 17% to a freestanding department.

– 10% to visitor services.


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Membership Titles §  Membership Director 44.1%

§  Membership Manager 36.2%

§  Membership Coordinator 17.5%


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Length of Service In Years §  < 1 year 7.9%

§  1 to 2 years 15.8%

§  3 to 4 years 24.3%

§  5 to 10 years 28.2%

§  Over 10 years 23.7%


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Length of Service!By Museum or Organization Type Zoos (31% with 10+ years of membership service)!have the membership personnel with the longest!longevity, followed by art museums (22% with 10+ years of membership service).


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Membership Salaries

§  Mode: $30,000 to $40,000.

§  Median: $40,000 to $50,000.

§  6% reported salaries in excess of $80,000.

§  10% did not wish to respond.

§  Related to length of service: 6 out 7 respondents!who make more than $90,000 have served for 10!or more years in the membership field.


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The Membership Profession

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How is Membership Perceived? §  Within the museum world?

§  What is the positioning of the membership!department within the institution?

§  What is the status of the membership!professional?

The Membership!Profession

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The Membership Position Within the museum world:

§  Membership gaining more respectability.

§  Demands on membership revenue ever greater in the future.

§  Membership is growing in importance to all institutions from a(n):

– Financial perspective.

– Audience perspective.

– Involvement perspective.


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The Membership Department What is the positioning of the membership!department within the institution?

§  More connected to the marketing side.

§  May move more to the transactional side.

§  If that proves to be true, may see more !institutions considering membership dues as!earned revenue.

§  Must still maintain close ties to development!functions.


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The Membership Professional What is the status of the membership professional?

§  More respectability.

§  Longer service.

§  Salaries increasing.

§  Membership is a destination position.


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Membership Trends §  Membership is a destination position.

§  Longer service.

§  Salaries increasing.

§  Membership gaining more respectability.

§  Demands on membership revenue ever greater in!the future.

§  Membership is growing in importance to!all institutions.


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Q&A and Conclusion

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Dana Hines Membership Consultants!dana@membership–consultants.com

Noreen Ahmad LaPlaca [email protected]

Rosie Branstetter [email protected]

Dana Hines Membership Consultantsdana@membership consultants.comconsultants.com

Membership Consultantsconsultants.com

Contact Us

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Thank You

The future of membership ammc presentation 2011

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Transcript of The future of membership ammc presentation 2011