Member….membership. 

Clearly these two terms hold great meaning within membership-based organizations. They represent the very reason for their existence. And when operating within an association community, it would seem these terms represent and communicate something unique and distinctive. Until you step outside the “protective bubble of associations” into the larger community.

No matter what you read or where you go, the opportunity to become a “member” appears everywhere. Become a member of a price club, a credit card, a health club, a purchasing club, and an electronic network; not to mention being a member of a church and a community. The term is ubiquitous…everywhere.

Years ago, I felt as though the term had been “stolen” by for-profit companies as the next technique to increase market-share; making the individual feel “part of a special” group. With the onset of “one-to-one” and “relationship” marketing, building a membership rather than a customer base was proving to become a more productive path to building brand loyalty. At whatever point this phenomena first occurred, the meaning of the term “member” became distorted.

What this means for us is that the individuals we seek to recruit have been oriented (or disoriented depending on your view) that member and customer are synonymous terms; and ultimately synonymous roles. If this is not addressed in our literature, individuals will make their decisions based on previous association experiences and the more recent marketing strategies that inundate their world.

For us, that means two things:

(1) Building a customer base is a very different action from building a community. The roles are vastly different. Understanding and embracing that distinction by volunteers and staff will have a direct impact on how your organization develops the kind of support that resonates with your membership.

(2) Be aware that a wide range of stereotypes exist surrounding the terms member and membership. Communicating what it means to be a member (rights, privileges, duties and responsibilities) within a membership community is essential if the expectation is to secure their full involvement.  

We have the capacity to make these terms mean something special again...and in the process provide a place where individuals as members can have a transformative experience.

Here at the Institute, we’ve been examining and defining the distinctions. Preliminary descriptions are available in some of our articles on this site (see specifically, If You Build It Will They Come? The Future of Member Involvement in the Electronic Age.

More formal models will be available soon.