Member Relations & Strategy: Supporting Member Involvement & Retention

Andrew Friedman and Christina Williams (2006/10)

Dealing with members and the array of requests that they make on their professional association is a daily business, and one that is often carried out by non-senior members of staff and a variety of volunteers.

How can we guarantee that associations provide the very best for members and meet their needs without spending time and resources on requests which may be illegitimate or unreasonable? How do we ensure that these interactions with members are aligned to the strategy of the organisation? How can we empower those people who deal with members on a regular basis to be able to react strategically to requests, whilst maintaining a responsive service?

This book offers insights about members, their needs and the requests that they make. It explores the importance of strategy in supporting member relations and considers ways in which professional associations can link member relations to strategy, using feedback cycles which allow both the strategy to inform ways of dealing with members and the experience of interacting with members to influence the strategy.

It presents models, tools and processes to strengthen the relationship between strategy and member relations, in order to support member involvement and retention.

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