The Needs of your Members as a Guiding Compass for your Association
Associations thrive on their members, which is why they aim to act in their best interests. Yet in many cases, the measures taken by an association do not reflect the wishes and needs of its members, meaning the association ultimately works past them. As a result, many associations attempt to determine these needs. Too often, however, the outcomes of traditional survey methods are incomplete, not meaningful enough or become outdated quickly due to low frequency. Participation rates are often low as well, making it impossible to gain a comprehensive picture of members’ opinions.
The problem is made worse when communication via email newsletters and circulars makes meaningful participation almost impossible, creating an additional barrier for member engagement.
How can an association represent its members’ interests effectively if it does not know what those interests are?
5 minutes
What are the Consequences of Directionless Advocacy?
Members often feel that their needs are not being addressed by their association. Few associations have a full and up-to-date understanding of what their members require. Too rarely do associations have or use reliable, interactive methods for collecting this information. Communication often does not take place in two directions, but primarily via email newsletters, circulars or one-to-one conversations with individual members.
Current trends and needs may be known, but usually not to all relevant parts of the association. If an exchange does occur, it is typically only between an individual member and a single staff representative, or between two committee members.
Even when members’ perceived needs are communicated internally, the flow of information is often too slow and rigid to respond to emerging trends, situations or requirements. As a result, an association misses many important opportunities to represent its members in a timely and contemporary way. Its external image too often fails to reflect its members’ current needs.
This affects not only the association itself. Individual members also miss relevant developments within their sector because these trends cannot be communicated to them. Members not only lose interest but, in some cases, are even held back by their association and unable to progress within their field.
How can you get to know your Members Needs?
Give your members a digital home and ensure their voices are heard again. Through interactive exchange in your member portal, you offer members the opportunity to share their views and communicate their needs clearly and directly. Enable them to exchange ideas with each other and with your association, quickly and on equal footing. Location- and time-independent networking and constant access to relevant information also make committee work and volunteering easier.
Create short surveys within your network to capture current opinions and sentiments quickly. With just one click, members can respond easily and offer your association valuable, low-threshold feedback.
Once you understand your members’ needs, you have the ideal basis for future decisions. With survey results at hand, your association is better equipped to offer need-oriented services, benefits and support. This strengthens both agility and external impact.
“Bitkom e. V.”, the digital association of Germany’s IT and telecommunications sector, regularly surveys its members on their priority topics. This enables Bitkom to address the issues that members currently consider most important in targeted working groups.
Give your members an active voice in your association’s decisions. Listen to them and follow the trends they experience first-hand. This ensures that all members feel equally seen and understood.
The 5 tips for need-oriented Networks
- Recognise new trends in real time: Members can respond easily to short surveys and mood indicators and endorse each other’s responses. Recurring answers are quickly highlighted and prioritised based on member votes.
- Encourage innovation and new ideas: Support ongoing development by enabling members to ask and answer questions or inspire each other with new concepts. Commenting functions allow targeted support and exchange.
- Make results tangible: Members want to see results quickly. Updates and interim outcomes can be fed directly into the relevant topic areas so they can be experienced immediately.
- Create a new feedback culture: Regular opportunities for interaction help members become accustomed to frequent, small doses of feedback. Individuals receive quicker, more personalised input from a cross-hierarchical community and feel supported and motivated.
- Establish sustainable digitalisation: Providing feedback and collaborating digitally becomes quick and low-threshold for members in their working routines. Less digitally experienced members strengthen their skills, while digitally minded members are addressed in a way that fits their expectations.
Your Member Portal in everyday Association Work
Wirtschaftsverband Industrieller Unternehmen Baden e. V. has integrated direct communication into its member network as part of its daily routine. It consolidates all key information, documentation and support materials on a given topic into a single overview post. This post is transparently accessible for all and prominently linked. Users are always kept up to date on changes and developments.
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