Is your membership organisation
ready for Generation X & Y?
Abby Wright-Parkes, Optimist Consulting
Content
• The Generations
• What this means for membership bodies
• Strategy
• Benefits review
• Value of membership
• Communications
• Governance
• Planning
• Resources
About: Abby Wright-Parkes
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Marketing background
Director of Membership & Marketing, ACEVO
Director of Membership, IAM
Established Optimist Consulting:
• Slow Food UK
• Social Impact Analysis Association
• Institute of Biomedical Science
• CharityComms
• Executive Research Association
• Home Owners Alliance
Offer strategic membership development and marketing support and
tactical help such as writing web copy
2015
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Generation X will outnumber Baby Boomers
Most membership bodies are focused on and managed
by Boomers
Generations X, Y & Z want different things from their
membership body
• Are you ready?
Warning!
• People are still individuals
• Every membership body is different
• But you need to start making changes and test what works...
The Generations: Silent
Silent Generation (1925-45)
Aged 69 – 89
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Status driven
Team players
Indirect in communicating
Loyal to organisation
Respect authority
Dedicated & willing to sacrifice
Duty before pleasure
Respond well to directive leadership
Seniority & age correlated
With thanks to Richard of MemberWise. See his free generational benefit review tool here:
http://bit.ly/LxyHnX
The Generations: Boomers
Baby Boomers (1946-64)
Aged 50 – 68
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Hard working
Look at the bigger picture
Bring a fresh perspective
Not so respectful of titles
Disapprove absolutes & structure
Optimistic
Team orientated
Uncomfortable with conflict
Sensitive to feedback
The Generations: Gen X
Generation X (1965-78)
Aged 35 – 49
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Positive attitude
Impatient
Goal orientated
Multi-tasking
Think globally
Desire flexible hours/working
More to life than ‘just a job’
Technology savvy
The Generations: Gen Y
Generation Y/Millennials (1979 - 1994)
Aged 20 - 35
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More confident
More social
Street-wise
Lack skills for dealing with
difficult people
A belief in collective action
Technology savvy
Multi-tasking
Need flexibility
The Generations: Gen Z
Generation Z (1995 - present)
Aged up to 19
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Highly connected
Lifelong use of WWW/mobile phone/instant messaging
Known as ‘digital natives’
Born with a smartphone in their hand
Comfortable sharing thoughts and media
online
Lack of interpersonal skills
Think about yourself…
#Selfie
Think about yourself…
• Look at the generations chart
• What generation are you?
• Do you identify with the characteristics?
• Do those you know in another generations match up?
Over to you!
What does this mean?
Baby Boomers
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When they are considering joining they:
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Carry out research extensively
Value printed material
Why they join:
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Opportunities to lead & to leave a legacy
To develop relationships
What does this mean?
Baby Boomers
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The sorts of communication
style they prefer:
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Where enough information
is given
Where options are presented
Where impact is linked
Face-to-face
Case Study: Livery Company
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500 year old latter day ‘trade association’
Hereditary entry
Senior membership mainly 55+ (Boomers + Silent)
Next group of leaders = Generation X
Case Study: Livery Company
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From
booking
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Took Boomers/Silent on the journey by:
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to introducing online event
Explaining the rationale
Producing hard-copy letter & instructions
Offering instructions again online
Result
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Successful adoption of new with minimal negative feedback
What does this mean?
Generation X
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When they are considering joining they:
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Want to understand the benefits clearly.
They need to understand the outcome of their
involvement in the membership association.
Why they join:
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Opportunity to further their careers.
To develop their skills.
What does this mean?
Generation X
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The sorts of communication style they prefer:
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Short and to-the-point
Where they are invited to give feedback
Clear about what is expected of them
Informal
Case Study: Professional Body
• Very formal structure & communications
• 1st large scale members’ survey
Case Study: Professional Body
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Survey findings
• Silent were loyal to the organisation
• Boomers reported lack of relevancy
• Students were engaged through social media
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Next steps
• Using retired members
• Review communications/regional events/career support
• Create segmented communications including students
What does this mean?
Generation Y
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When they are considering joining they:
• Highly value authentic leadership
• Want fast technological communications
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Why they join:
• Opportunity to learn from others
• To collaborate with others
What does this mean?
Generation Y
• The sorts of communication style
they prefer:
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Where visual language is used
Being asked constantly for feedback
Where they aren’t spoken down to
Using technology where possible
Your Organisation
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What generational differences have you noticed?
• Talk to your neighbour
Over to you!
Baby Boomer Focus?
Baby Boomers
Gen X
Gen Y
Where to Start?
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Find the size of the problem:
• Model membership make-up:
• Do you collect age data?
• Current % of Boomers, Gen X, Y & Z
• Model next 5/10/15/20 years based
on age
• Look at effect on income
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Test internal appetite/
resistance to change
Developing a Strategy
5) Refine
Enhance
Communicate
1) Review
Offer & value for X,
Y & Z preferences
Talk to members
2) Planning
stage
Value
Member benefits
Communications
Governance
4) Monitor
Regular reviews
Statics
3) Start
Action
Communications
Benefits Review – X preferences
Very well
Great!
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Standard
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Improve over time
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Not very well
How well does the benefit deliver a positive
experience/engenders a positive emotion
from members
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Urgently improve
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Not very well
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Very well
How well does the benefit meet a need or solve a problem.
From: The End Of Membership As We Know It
Sarah Sladek
Benefits Review
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Tool – plot against X, Y & Z
Usage
Direct feedback
• Emails/social media
comments
• Renewal cycle feedback
• At events
• Research
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Interactive feedback
• Polls
• AGM online
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Map against % of different
generations/shift over the coming years
Be curious….
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What does your data
already tell you?
Can you cross-tabulate
existing data?
Value of Membership
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You are only meeting Baby Boomer needs if your
membership offer is:
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Status driven
Fixed benefit offering
Assumes renewal due
to loyalty
Value of Membership
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X & Ys want the opportunity to
• To lead
• To learn
• To make a difference
• They also want a flexible approach
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Eg. Not just a one-day course delivered in London, what
about an e-learning modular approach?
Value of Membership
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Consider messaging:
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Not:
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Try:
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“Free directory entry for every member”
“Free listing on the web directory which is visited by 10,000 visitors
a year. Entry is worth £500”
What is the value to them of this benefit?
Communications
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Interactive
– Social media, forums, blogs, multichannel
Segmented to different generations
Communications
Communications
Communications
• Go where your members are
• Can be inexpensive
However, it is not “just” about social media!
Governance
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“Run by Boomers for Boomers”?
Succession plan?
Board constitution
Attracting new Board members
How easy is it to stand for election?
Consider other ways to feed in beyond the
Board
CIM
Case Study: Membership Body
• Relaxed audience Gen X/Z + some Boomers
• Sent official/scary looking ballot paper
“What is this?”
“Do I need to stand?”
“Is everything ok?”
Case Study: Membership Body
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2nd year
• Personal letter from CEO:
• Explained how to get involved
• What they would get from the org/involvement
• How to find a member to support the application
• New faces came forward
Create a Plan
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Gain buy-in internally
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Take your members with
you
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Continually review
• Generations will be moving
through membership
Resources to Help
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Book: The End Of Membership As We Know It - Sarah L Sladek
http://www.asaecenter.org/
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US membership organisations leading the way, watch them
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Watch the news/set up alerts for generational differences
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Online sources such as:
• Memberwise www.memberwise.o rg.uk,
• Trade Association Forum http://www.taforum.org/
• Professional Associations Research Network (PARN) http://www.parnglobal.com/
Resources to Help
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Networking with peers in other membership organisations
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MemCom – Awards and Conference – 30 April, London. Award deadline 14 March.
http://www.memcom.info/_blog/Events/post/memcom-conference-and-award-2014--agenda/
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MemberWise Membership Excellence Conference – 13 May, London
www.membershipexcellence.com
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PARN – Managing Member Networks Conference – 14 May, London
http://www.parnglobal.com/eventcalendar/managing-member-networks-conference
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Trade Association Forum Annual Conference - 10 July, Liverpool
http://www.taforum.org/Events/343
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For a copy of these slides www.optimistconsulting.co.uk/blog
Any questions?
Thank you for listening
For more information, contact:
07775 810 545
[email protected]
www.optimistconsulting.co.uk
@optimistconsult
2 Old College Court, 29 Priory Street, Ware, Hertfordshire, SG12 0DE