Daily Buzz: The Membership Question You Need to Ask

The one question every association should ask before embarking on a new membership strategy: Why? Sherry McAllister, executive vice president of the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress, writes on Forbes  (opens in a new tab) that this simple question was the reason her nonprofit jumped from 8,000 members to 22,000.

“When we were discussing our organization’s goals, we didn’t just focus on the ‘what’ (membership growth),” McAllister says. “Instead, we focused on the ‘why’ (we wanted to be part of the solution to the national opioid crisis). Fortunately, we were able to nearly triple our membership in the process by mobilizing [doctors of chiropractic] toward a common, unifying purpose.”

For similar results, McAllister suggests finding the “why” behind your organization.

“Organizations ought to look beyond the obvious to align with larger issues to create a common goal among existing members and attract new ones,” she says. “Always begin with the end in mind. When you keep your nonprofit’s mission and goals top of mind, your donors will never underestimate the impact your nonprofit is making.”

The Emoji Class of 2019

Sloths, waffles, and wheelchair emoji, oh my! The Unicode Consortium has selected its 59 new base emoji—230 total including all skin and gender variations—which will arrive later in the year when Apple and Google release their major OS updates, according to Engadget  (opens in a new tab).

The highlights include more accessibility-related icons, including guide dogs and ears with hearing aids, as well as sillier options, such as a banjo, yo-yo and, yes, even underwear.

Other Links of Note

Taking a meeting from home? Skype will now let you blur your background, so you don’t have to worry about tidying up your office beforehand, from The Verge  (opens in a new tab).

Book clubs and online games might not seem like business initiatives, but they can bring a remote workforce together  (opens in a new tab), says Harvard Business Review.

Associations’ troves of data mean they’re in a good position to develop strong predictive analytics initiatives—but teams must understand the data first  (opens in a new tab), writes Paolo Melgarejo on Association Success.

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