--- title: "Idea Bank: Peek at Benefit Draws New Members" id: "11814" type: "post" slug: "idea-bank-peek-at-benefit-draws-new-members" published_at: "2016-07-18T04:00:00+00:00" modified_at: "2026-03-15T02:50:10+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2016/07/18/idea-bank-peek-at-benefit-draws-new-members/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2016/07/18/idea-bank-peek-at-benefit-draws-new-members.md" excerpt: "What’s the great idea? Gift cards for nonmembers to access members-only resources Who’s doing it? European Association for the Study of the Liver What’s involved? To celebrate its 50th anniversary last year, EASL handed out gift cards to nonmember annual..." taxonomy_category: - "Membership" taxonomy_post_tag: - "ASAEcenter" - "Member Benefits" - "Member Engagement" - "Membership" - "Membership Recruitment & Retention" - "online resources" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "Director" - "Manager" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Idea Bank: Peek at Benefit Draws New Members **What’s the great idea?** Gift cards for nonmembers to access members-only resources **Who’s doing it?** European Association for the Study of the Liver **What’s involved?** To celebrate its 50th anniversary last year, EASL handed out gift cards to nonmember annual meeting attendees that would provide access to its members-only website, LiverTree. The attendees could use the card to tap into webcasts and other content anytime between the April conference and the end of the year. “It was a way to hopefully generate some buzz and get people interested in becoming members of EASL,” says Edward Pramuk, manager of education and scientific activities. About 1,500 nonmembers logged in using their gift cards and became active LiverTree users, causing website usage to increase by 50 percent from the previous year. At the end of the period, EASL saw a small portion of those users become full members. **What are people saying?** “The best way that we got feedback was when people’s free subscription ran out. We got a lot of people that complained, so we encouraged them to become members,” Pramuk says. “So we knew that people were active, we knew that people were using it, and people were interested.” Though EASL will not distribute gift cards again this year, the response made clear the usefulness and importance of its online resources. He says: “It is giving us food for thought in the future for how to better market this and how to utilize our online education portal for membership and other revenue.” [This article was originally published in the Associations Now print edition, titled “Idea Bank: Gift Wrapped.”] [Alex Beall](https://associationsnow.com/author/alex-beall/) Alex Beall is a freelance writer based in California. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/alex-beall/) Tags: [#Member Benefits](https://associationsnow.com/tag/member-benefits/) [#Member Engagement](https://associationsnow.com/tag/member-engagement/) [#Membership](https://associationsnow.com/tag/membership/) [#Membership Recruitment & Retention](https://associationsnow.com/tag/membership-recruitment-retention/) [#online resources](https://associationsnow.com/tag/online-resources/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [ArticleGrowth Isn’t Enough: Five Signs Your Community Has an Engagement ProblemSeptember 30, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/09/30/growth-isnt-enough-five-signs-your-community-has-an-engagement-problem/) - [ArticleWhat a Washington, DC, Mansion Knows About Membership That We Don’tSeptember 9, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/09/09/what-a-washington-dc-mansion-knows-about-membership-that-we-dont/) - [ArticleMost Component Membership Losses Begin With a Change of AddressSeptember 14, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/09/14/most-component-membership-losses-begin-with-a-change-of-address/) - [ArticleHow to Spot Members at Risk of Lapse Before They LeaveAugust 5, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/08/05/how-to-spot-members-at-risk-of-lapse-before-they-leave/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2016%2F07%2F18%2Fidea-bank-peek-at-benefit-draws-new-members%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !