Open Forum

Could anyone offer examples of running a successful Member-to-Member or Member-get a-Member drive? 

Almost 80% of our membership is 55+. However school tours and free family programming are our fastest growing audiences. We're exploring ways to convert the Millennial households that are using our programming into members. 

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Freya Liggett
Museum Manager
Moses Lake Museum & Art Center
Moses Lake WA
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This is a real challenge that we face as well.  We have a similar demographic in Membership and it is a one step forward and two steps back situation for adding members.  Our free Family Fun Days draw the younger adults with their young children.  As we all know, everyone loves FREE!  When a family can come to the museum free as many as five times a year, what is the incentive to become a member?  I and my staff have been struggling to develop a member benefits package that would be attractive enough to make it worthwhile to this group. 

But as to the existing membership base, the problem is getting them to consider sponsoring new members from among their peers.  Even our Board members will not do this.  I personally believe that board membership should require a certain level of annual giving AND new members sponsorships per year, but that suggestion has gone over like a lead balloon, as you might imagine.

I will be curious what other institutions have done to make this work.

I asked my colleague, JD Beiting, to share his ideas on this topic. Here's what he said:

A good place to start is with a member-get-a-member campaign.  A best practice is to create an ambassador program that empowers existing Millennial and Gen X members to bring in new members.  Successful peer-to-peer ambassador campaigns have three key components:

1. Support for the ambassador. Create a toolkit of messages, graphics and a 'how to' process for equipping your existing members to promote the museum membership to their social networks.
2. Awards/incentives for the ambassador. Develop an incentive program where both the ambassador and the newly recruited member receive something of measurable value in exchange for successfully recruiting a new member.  The key here is to find the right level of incentive that motivates the existing member and is of proportional value relative to the membership level.   
3. Recognition for the ambassador. Similar to donor recognition, an ambassador should be recognized via the web or on-site for the contributions made to the organization.

A multi-channel campaign that sends multiple messages to the Millennial and Gen X members via email, mail and social media can be effective.  It is a call to action for these members to take the next step and become an ambassador for the organization. Additionally, immediately following each program session, a special offer that provides added value to the membership with a time-bound deadline can be effective in converting program users into members.   

Hopefully, these tips help convey more of the younger generations to become members. For additional information, check out this resource: http://benefactorgroup.com/peer-to-peer-fundraising-tips-from-the-field/

Those are great ideas! We've been having similar dilemmas at our museum gaining members of younger generations, but those points could work! I know people my age (26) and younger like to be involved so an ambassador program would be a good way to get them involved!