4 proven strategies to increase non-dues revenue at your association

Driving non-dues revenue is extremely important to the success of your organization. Community Brands research reports that 68% of association professionals identified increasing non-dues revenue as their top priority.  

While there are myriad options on how to drive revenue, your association needs proven non-dues revenue boosters to help your organization meet its strategic goals and improve the member experience. Read our blog to discover how you can leverage trailblazing technology to boost non-dues revenue at your association.

How to boost non-dues revenue at your association

It’s time to begin driving non-dues revenue. Here are four tried and true methods to maximize your association revenue:

1. Events

Providing event opportunities is a fantastic way to improve the member experience and accelerate association non-dues revenue. But it’s not enough to simply add a conference or meeting to your event schedule—you want to ensure it will be a success.  
 
Here’s how:  

Secure sponsorships. To financially support your event, try finding a company to sponsor your upcoming conference or meeting.  
 
Companies who decide to back your program do so for prearranged benefits, like increased brand exposure, discounted ticket prices, or speaking opportunities at the event. When you find event sponsors, you increase the credibility of your program, and you heighten event exposure through cross-advertising opportunities. 

Mobilize your volunteer group. Ask your volunteers if their employer would be a good event sponsor or have them use their professional networks to discover a new sponsorship opportunity.  
 
Get your volunteers in on event promotion by providing marketing collateral like premade graphics, videos, brochures, and posters to help them advertise the event within their networks. To further generate interest in upcoming conferences or meetings, give your volunteers an event registration coupon code for promotions with other members.  

With Nimble AMS, create event registration coupon codes to thank member volunteers or event sponsors. Customers can easily apply the coupon code at checkout in the Community Hub to receive their discount.

• Invite non-members. Community Brands research found that 57% of association members are more likely to attend in-person events if their friend or co-worker plans on attending.  
   
  Consider hosting a non-member party to showcase the value of your association. Have your member volunteers personally invite co-workers or industry colleagues and follow up with personalized thank–you notes. 

Use Nimble Create to develop email templates to engage existing members and non-members. Easily create personalized and branded email content and automate campaigns to save staff time.

2. Learning program 

According to the latest Community Brands research, 47% of members ranked certifications and credentials as a top priority. The study also noted that the top reasons a member joins an organization are for certifications/credentials and training opportunities.  
 
Follow these tips to leverage your learning program:  

Recruit Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). To create industry-specific content for your association’s learning program, you’ll want to attract more SMEs to volunteer. Start by surveying your members to get a sense of their background and trade knowledge. After receiving the survey results, you can consider how best to utilize SMEs in your learning program.  
 
During this process, take steps to form a diverse and inclusive SME volunteer group. Recruiting a diverse group of volunteers strengthens your association by providing a wide perspective of opinions on industry matters. A diverse and inclusive SME group will help your association develop learning content to engage all members and positively impact your community.  

Supply a variety of content types. To take your learning program to the next level, you’ll need to ensure you offer engaging learning courses. Try adding several types of content to your learning management software (LMS).  
 
Offer webinars, webcasts, and on-demand courses with interactive features like live polling, Q&A, and chat to boost member engagement. Use videos, charts, games, slide decks, checklists, and interviews within your training courses to engage members and keep them coming back for more. 

When you integrate with Crowd Wisdom, a Community Brands LMS, your organization can drive non-dues revenue by offering a highly personalized online learning solution.

• Offer non-member pricing.  Consider extending your professional development opportunities to non-members. Provide a non-member rate, versus a member rate, and show how non-members can save on training when they join your association.  
   
  Opening continuing education courses to non-members will provide countless revenue opportunities and will also encourage non-members to join your organization.   

3. Career center

If you haven’t already, it’s time to adopt career center software at your association. Community Brands research found that the top two reasons a member joins an organization are for career advancement purposes, including networking and job opportunities.

Further the effectiveness of your career center by following these steps: 

• Host a career fair. Hold a virtual or in-person career fair for your members to network with and be interviewed by employers. Whether a member nails an interview, gets their resume reviewed, or gains valuable professional networking experience, career fairs add great member benefits. Employers will also pay to attend career fairs and meet with association members, guaranteeing you non-dues revenue.
   
• Create informational content. Help your members get the most out of your career center by developing digital and printed career center guides. Include a section about career development, employer recruitment, and industry-required training. Allow employers to purchase ads in the guide.  On your FAQ page, try posting a short video of how to leverage your career center software– such as tips to log in, find a job, and apply. Providing this information will promote your career center to members who might not know about it. 

Integrate Nimble AMS with Community Brands software, YM Careers, to help launch your members’ careers and increase association revenue.

4. E-commerce

Drive non-dues revenue with association management software (AMS) that supports a modern online shopping experience. Look for an innovative AMS that meets the following criteria:

• Offer multiple payment options. Members come to your e-commerce website with convenience in mind. Make purchasing easier by providing various secure payment options like Apple Pay, Google Pay, express payments, scheduled payments, and more.  

Your association should leverage the latest technology to streamline online purchases. With Nimble AMS’s Lightning Store, Nimble AMS accepts Apple Pay and Google Pay so your association can offer even more payment options to your members.

• Modern e-commerce features. Choose an AMS with cross-selling functionality, that suggests additional products your members might like, to ensure your merchandise is marketed to more members. Meet your revenue goals and deliver a positive member experience when you leverage an e-commerce solution that automates abandon cart reminders, prompting members to complete forgotten purchases.

Use Nimble AMS’ Lightning Cross Sell to highlight related products for members, encouraging personalization for the member experience and driving revenue for your association. Also, create automated abandoned cart reminder emails to send to members to encourage them to return to their carts.

Drive more association non-dues revenue

Secure the future of your organization when you leverage our proven non-dues revenue boosters. For even more revenue-increasing strategies, read our free whitepaper: Your Association’s Essential Guide to Generating Revenue.

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