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NZARC Blog

The New Zealand Association Resource Centre Trust (NZARC) blog is a place for board members, partner organisations, and subscribers to contribute articles and discuss issues of relevance to the non-profit sector. Contributions are welcome and encouraged.

What are associations doing to manage membership during challenging economic times?

Friday, April 27, 2012
Our Executive Officer (Rosemary Mahoney) regularly subscribes to a number of LinkedIn forums to keep abreast of developments specific to both charities and associations - locally and internationally. 

One conversation thread has revealed a recent survey of 100 associations within the UK market. It revealed some interesting statistics which are as follows:

  • 74% of associations surveyed found it harder or much harder to recruit in the current climate
  • 78% of associations surveyed found it harder or much harder to retain members in the current climate

We’d like to hear your top of mind feedback – do you agree with some of the trends identified above and is this what you have experienced? Also, what are some of the initiatives you have used to add value to members? If you could let us know, we can provide ideas back in our next newsletter – you all work in different industries and sharing information can really assist the Associations segment as a whole. Click here to email Rosemary.

However, 44% have noticed an increase in membership – and 43% have introduced benefits aimed at supporting members during the tougher economic times.

The methods that associations say they are using to stimulate membership are:

  • 25% of respondents see enhanced professional status as Unique Selling Point (USP)
  • 76% offer online networking opportunities
  • 78% tweet
  • Over half of respondents do not cross sell or upsell – a missed opportunity

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Increasing and maintaining membership

Wednesday, April 04, 2012
Increasing membership needn’t be ‘rocket-science’. We have taken some tips from others, created our own spin and have the following very simple, easy-to-apply and practical steps for increasing your membership – NOW! 

  • Ask yourself ‘what do I really do for my members’?
  • Ask your members ‘what is it that we do that you need/want us to do’?
  • Ask your members ‘what is it we do that you really don’t need/want us to do’?
  • Communicate with your members - get out there and talk with them, gaining crucial feedback.
  • Find that ‘sweet spot’ which is your competitive advantage over others – the things that you do that your members really value – and do them well.
  • Make an effort with all members, large and small
  • Concentrate on member retention and invest in keeping membership solid. It’s easier and cheaper to keep existing members and they become advocates for member acquisition.
  • Get everyone within the board, committee and staff/volunteers on board with your direction and see the results speak for themselves.

If you know of an association that you think does a great job of the above, we'd love to hear about it. Please email Rosemary and we'll profile them in the next newsleter.

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Resource: NECA (WA) doubles membership

Monday, March 05, 2012

By Kyle Katusi

From time to time, we come across articles that we feel would be of benefit to you in their entirety.
We credit the author and source and do not alter any content of the article.
Please click here to open the PDF
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Official word from the Charities Commission – Membership Restrictions in Charities

Wednesday, November 30, 2011
You may recall we had an article in last month’s newsletter regarding ‘Membership Restrictions in Charities. We had a number of enquiries around this topic and received the following response from the Charities Commission:

 Only entities that have charitable objectives (purposes) are eligible for registration with the Commission.

Charitable purposes include the advancement of education or religion, or the relief of poverty, or any other matter beneficial to the community. (There is considerable case law about what constitutes a “charitable purpose”, but the Commission has published a number of “plain language” information sheets about charitable purpose, and sample wording for trust deeds and constitutions that your members may find helpful). 

Charities must also provide a “public benefit”. This means that the benefit they provide must be available to an appreciable section of the public, and not just an individual, or a small group of people (there is more about this in our information sheet - "Public benefit" test: Guidance for charities).

The Commission has registered a number of charities that have a paid membership. Paid membership on its own doesn’t disqualify a charity from being registered with the Commission – it is only if the organisation’s membership criteria unreasonably exclude such a large part of the public that its benefits (in effect) become unavailable to “the public” (and therefore they don’t provide a “public benefit”).

Regarding the tax status of donations and corporate sponsorships, you may wish to contact Inland Revenue for clarification. However, registered charities that have donee status are eligible for income tax exemption. You may like to read the two Inland Revenue brochures I have attached, which explain registered charities’ tax status.”

If you have any further queries, we are happy to respond to them – you can email rosemary@associations.org.nz

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Attracting and retaining our people

Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Consider the following question and how it applies to you. We received some great feedback around this issue and others in a survey you may have taken part in recently. We also posed this specific question on LinkedIn, directed at a special interest group for non-profits.

We thought the following answer was particularly thought-provoking:

“…having done some involved research for a large NFP earlier this year, what I discovered is that not for profits do not position themselves from a recruitment branding perspective, to attract and be appealing to individuals capable of the role who are positioned in other sectors. A NFP who positions themselves to operate more as a private sector organisation and as a business, become more attractive to those who would be ideal for the role, but are otherwise currently working in other organisations…”

We would love to hear your thoughts around this also – you can comment either directly to rosemary@associations.org.nz or via the comments section at the bottom of this post.

 Question – what issues do you think are critical for NFP in attracting and retaining; board members, paid staff and volunteers in associations and charities?


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Retaining and Attracting new members

Thursday, September 15, 2011
As we see changes in global industries, we can’t possibly think we are immune from the way our members look to us for advice, guidance and information to assist them navigate the tough times. We are only too keenly aware that some associations are striving to retain and attract new members. 

We thought an article recently written by Gregory Bondar in the August 2011 Third Sector magazine had some very practical advice. He identified five forces that he believes will be important considerations over the next decade shaping how an organisation will see threats and opportunities.

His top five potentially disruptive forces are:

  • Technology – how will this impact upon your membership base?
  • Institutional restructuring – how are you reviewing your aims objectives and constitutions?
  • Demographic changes – how are you aligning what you offer with younger potential constituents?
  • Changes in the environment – responding to swiftly changing compliance and legislative issues?
  • Shifting societal values – how do you respond to the needs of member segments with differing needs?

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Are you finding it hard to attract younger members?

Tuesday, August 09, 2011
We are getting a lot of feedback that many association and charities are finding it harder to attract the interest of Gen X and Gen Y. It seems that everyone has his or her own theory or scenario about why the upcoming generations are less inclined to join up or be active participants in common pursuits. 

The downstream effect is that it is equally difficult to field a good executive team of inspired and capable individuals, ideally with good connections and plenty of spare time. For the more middle-of- the –road sized non-profit, it is really hard to attract people ‘behind the head table’ who are leading lights in their respective occupations, professions and industries. This inevitably places a greater responsibility on any paid chief executives and managers to become both the de facto head and virtual glue - with the accompanying blame if matters take a turn for the worse. 

The question is: What can you do about this? 

Many associations and trusts are hamstrung by the rules and guidelines in their founding documents. Before embarking on any new initiatives, there is a need to review the objects clauses in their constitution and / or trust deed. Is the trust deed or constitution in tune with a potential new membership profile – is it relevant to both existing and prospective new members? We recognise the complexities of satisfying an existing membership who may be quite happy with the status quo. However, the status quo may be the exact obstacle to attracting a younger and more invigorated membership with different needs and ways of communicating.

If you have any doubts about the relevance of the terms of your constitution with the current challenges of today’s environment, we may be able to help you. We can talk with you about your particular situation and advise you about what you can do for your association or trust to become more attractive to a younger prospective membership or constituency. Please contact Rosemary Mahoney on 09 4190042 for assistance.

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Increased income for Industry Associations

Thursday, June 30, 2011
One of our newsletter subscribers posed an interesting question for us to open up for discussion.

They have a successful association with around 80% membership of the available sector (we think that is pretty impressive!). This is their scenario - they:
  • have a large and rapidly growing associate membership
  • hold a successful conference
  • conduct specialist topic seminars (charging to attend)
  • publish sponsored magazines
  • produce on-line newsletters with paid advertising

This association is very interested in hearing ways of generating revenue – and of cutting costs effectively without cutting services. We welcome your suggestions and we will publish these in our next issue and feed these back to our association for whom we thank for their contribution.
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Focus on – membership acquisition tools

Sunday, March 13, 2011
One of the topics of our recent conference was membership acquisition and retention. Most charities and associations we talk to find it time consuming and ‘painful’ to process payments for new members or donors, with some finding it increasingly difficult to keep track of payments. 

Debitsuccess provides a solution to managing your memberships and donor payments easily and effectively through their full-service offering which incorporates billing, customer service and credit control. This removes the pressure from your staff, allowing you to focus on managing your core business. Debitsuccess is not a debt collector; it is a billing management specialist. 

Debitsuccess enables you to offer flexible payment options, allowing members or donors to pay on any day and at any frequency. Payment dates can be aligned with the days your members or donors receive money - improving the chances of successful collection. Payments can be broken down to easily manageable weekly, fortnightly or monthly instalments. Unless otherwise specified by the client, collections also continue for an indefinite period of time without the need for initiating renewals.

If your organization is dependent on large one-off payments you could be very vulnerable should these slow down for whatever reason. By spreading your payments into regular instalments you can flatten out the “highs” and “lows” and be able to project your future cashflows enabling you to make key decisions. 

For more information call Rosemary Mahoney at NZARC or Karl Margain at Debitsuccess 09 481 0498

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