Acronym

I’m in the “60 Tips in 75 Minutes” session on communicating with members, and it’s not just standing room only—there are people filling every chair and most of the floor. I think I see someone hanging from the ceiling.

Tons of great tips are being shared; here are just a few:

- If you have an e-newsletter with a feature article, use the title of the article as your subject line, not “ABC Association E-newsletter” or something similar.

- Immediately deliver recent back issues of your publications when a member joins. Make them feel welcome; don’t make them wait for these important member benefits.

- Develop local level template press releases. Local media attention is relatively easy to get in small- to mid-size cities, and you can help your local members connect with their local papers with customizable template releases on topics important to your association.

- Acknowledgment cards for members who appear in national, state, or local media. Set up a Google alert for keywords related to your association so you can easily find stories that appear about you and then take the time to follow up with a personalized cards (signed by your president or executive director).

- Offer a money-back guarantee on your education programs. It builds trust and shows your belief in your product. (And if a lot of people take you up on it, it shows you that you have a problem.)

- Re-survey conference attendees 90 days after an event to see if the content of your conference is still relevant and helpful to them.