Nearly every success metric for your organization can be improved by better understanding your members.

To get to know them better, consider mapping their journey with your association. “It allows you and your staff to get on the same page about what your members think, want, need, and feel—and when—so you can better serve them,” writes Callie Walker in a recent post for the MemberClicks blog. A journey map also “allows you to see where gaps might lie in terms of what your members are experiencing versus what you’re actually providing—or think you’re providing.”

How should you get started with a journey map? Be sure to have well-considered membership personas to aid in comprehending their goals, challenges, and pain points. And take a close look at the data surrounding how your members interact with your association, including when members drop off and the performance of your programs.

Trouble with Trolls

Lessons from #imdb in @martech_today Great piece on balancing #community participation https://t.co/EzXavHEprQ with avoiding trolls who can kill your community.

— Rob Wenger (@rwenger) November 27, 2017

We all know that trolls can poison an online community. An archivist organization recently had to shut down its main discussion listserver because it had become so toxic.

But, don’t let bad online behavior stop you from serving your members. The MarTech Advisor shares a few tips for halting trolls in their tracks.

Community managers are often the first line of defense against trollish abuse. If you’re serious about developing a fruitful online community, you’ll need to hire one, and as your community scales, you may need more than one.

“A good community manager moderates comments and discussions to ensure that content is appropriate and constructive,” says Hunter Montgomery, CMO of Higher Logic. “When they first come on board, your community manager can work with other staff to develop a ‘terms of use’ document for discussions and other community spaces.”

Other Links of Note

Are you ready for #GivingTuesday? The CauseVox blog provides several last-minute ideas to help your campaign make a splash.

As Whitney Houston’s famous song says, “I believe the children are our future …” But Nonprofit: Always Fresh says that it’s incumbent on the nonprofit sector to also pay attention to the needs of older adults.

Social media delivers a constant barrage of information. Harvard’s NiemanLab talks to an expert about how social media may be making it harder to think.