Membership

Membership Pro Tip: Build Up Your Community With Trial Membership

The Healthcare Financial Management Association offered a trial membership last year, which led to a notable increase in members—and great insights to help improve offerings.

How does it work?

Industry professionals who want to try out membership in the Healthcare Financial Management Association can sign up for a free 30-day trial with no strings attached.

All member benefits are available to trial members except HFMA’s print magazine. They get unlimited access to the group’s online content—including digital access to its publications—certification programs, online education, and members-only resources like HFMA’s online community.

Why is it effective?

Since rolling out the free trial—first as a pilot from April to August last year, then fully in September—nearly 47 percent of trial members converted to paid membership, adding 350 new members in just over 10 months, says Keith Chamberlain, HFMA’s director of membership and experience. Implementing the program was low cost and low effort: The IT department just created a new member category in the system.

What’s the benefit?

Prospective members get to experience the entire array of HFMA resources and services to determine if membership delivers the value and solutions they are looking for from the organization.

For those who do not ultimately convert, HFMA has all their contact information to communicate with them about HFMA resources available to nonmembers, such as conferences and professional certifications.

Chamberlain’s team continues to promote membership to them, too. The team contacts those who did not join to find out why, which provides insight into how HFMA can improve or revise the features and benefits of membership.

Do you have a membership pro tip? Please share in the comments or send me an email.

(yuriz/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Lisa Boylan

By Lisa Boylan

Lisa Boylan is a senior editor of Associations Now. MORE

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