Your membership portal is the ultimate engagement tool—but it can also help your association generate nondues revenue.

“A member portal is like a display window into your association,” says the MemberSuite team in a blog post. “From the homepage you can link to different engagement opportunities, like your online community, events, and certifications. But, you can also diversify your organization’s revenue streams by adding an online storefront where members can purchase products and services.”

Members’ time and attention are limited. So to truly leverage your membership portal, you’ll need an intuitive and efficient design that makes your offerings accessible and easy to pay for.

“Keep [the member’s] transaction moving along with a streamlined checkout process,” the team writes. “Visitors will be less likely to abandon their shopping cart—and the portal—if they can quickly purchase an ad, buy a book, or subscribe to a publication.”

Consider a universal and persistent shopping cart, where members can add items that can be saved for later, and keeping payment methods on file for swift, easy transactions.

Show Young Members Value

Why do Millennials and Generation Z let their association membership lapse? 37% reported a decline in benefit or quality offered and 29% reported it became too costly. See what #youngmembers told us about how to retain them in your association.https://t.co/tcTPqCcHBf

— Personify (@Personifycorp) February 26, 2019

Only 40 percent of young members say association membership is worth the dues, according to a report from Personify. And if they aren’t feeling the value—there’s no chance at renewal.

“While membership is viewed as important by young members, the need for membership organizations to articulate a clear return on investment in order to stay relevant has never been clearer,” says Amanda Myers on Personify’s blog.

Myers says every association should be reinforcing its value every step of the way. Another option? “Make membership affordable,” she says. “Explore opportunities to align your existing membership offers with the preferences of subscription-savvy young members with monthly billing options.”

Other Links of Note

The Google+ shutdown date is April 2. This is what your association should do before then, from the Sprout Social blog.

Not all chapters handle member recruitment equally. Provide them with a toolkit to fill any gaps, says the Billhighway blog.

Working as a team can be challenging for certain personality types. The DelCor blog has tips to help team members understand others’ work styles.

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