Earn additional revenue through charitable contributions and discover ways to engage and captivate your audience with our comprehensive guide to establishing a membership program.

When memberships are thoughtfully crafted and efficiently overseen, you may discover additional revenue from charitable contributions while frequently attracting satisfied customers – ultimately, it’s a win-win situation for all!

To accomplish this, it’s essential to pause and conduct thorough research. This involves grasping the reasons behind your organization’s existing or desired membership program, analyzing your target audience, and developing a well-defined marketing and fundraising plan for both the immediate and distant future.

Utilize this step-by-step manual to create an effective membership program for the first time, or to evaluate whether your existing initiative meets the necessary standards.

1. Ensure your goals are in harmony.

To begin with, it’s essential to grasp the reasons behind your organization’s desire for a membership program. Clarifying your goals will guide you in deciding the kind of initiative to create.

  • To boost attendance and additional spending, opt for a commercial membership option. This plan provides a monetary incentive for membership, benefiting those who make frequent bookings and motivating them to make even more. Typically, it is overseen by the marketing department.
  • To encourage charitable contributions and engage donors at the initial stage of their giving journey, create a philanthropic initiative. While the financial advantages of this membership program may be limited, individuals interested in making a charitable donation or accessing non-monetary perks will be inspired to participate. Typically, the fundraising team manages these philanthropic membership programs.

If your aim is to achieve a balance between the two, it’s essential to implement a strategy that merges a membership charge with a charitable contribution. By fostering collaboration between your marketing and fundraising departments, and utilizing an integrated system for marketing, ticketing, and fundraising, you can provide financial incentives while simultaneously boosting charitable donations.

2. Select the appropriate advantages to provide.

When considering the benefits to provide, keep in mind two essential principles:

  1. Ensure that the revenue generated by your membership exceeds the expenses associated with its operation. While this may seem straightforward, there are numerous instances of memberships that fail to achieve this balance.
  2. Be cautious about providing a single membership option with only one level of benefits. It is far more effective to create multiple access points by establishing tiered membership structures that deliver advantages at various levels. Performing Arts Houston has developed membership tiers that span from $25 to $10,000, providing a clear pathway for customers to enhance their loyalty and boost their contributions annually.

Expenses that provide advantages

You can provide several valuable perks that require minimal investment yet serve as compelling reasons for individuals to enroll in your membership program. These monetary advantages simplify the sales process for memberships, leading to increased revenue and higher booking rates.

In Spektrix, members can effortlessly enjoy a range of benefits as soon as they log in. There’s no requirement for discount codes or any manual intervention from your staff.

  • Eliminated reservation charges
  • Discounts expressed as a percentage on certain or all tickets.
  • Premium seats available at a reduced rate.
  • Special offers on your catering services or products.
  • Complimentary gatherings, like member receptions or seasonal kick-off events.

Free advantages

You can provide members with valuable perks that incur no expense on your part. These are excellent options if you’re looking to establish a charitable membership initiative.

  • Priority reservation times
  • Priority shipments
  • Expressing gratitude in event programs or on your website.
  • Special access to premium features, such as those mentioned below.

Advantages you can bill members for

Ultimately, there are advantages that may incur some expenses for your organization, while also potentially imposing a minor extra cost on members. These options necessitate a bit of administrative effort, yet they are excellent choices for any membership program, as they not only generate income but also enhance member involvement.

  • Discussions before and after the event
  • Tours of the building and behind-the-scenes experiences.
  • Final practice sessions before a performance.
  • Artist meet-and-greet events

3. Customize your membership program to align with the interests of your customers.

While you may have a clear idea of your goals for a membership program, achieving success requires meeting your customers’ needs as well. Explore audience behaviors by analyzing their booking and donation patterns, gaining insights into their interests, creating segmentation models, and aligning these with customers’ motivations and incentives.

The examples provided below illustrate the process of analyzing customer behaviors within Spektrix. If you are utilizing another CRM platform, please contact your Support team for assistance. They will be more than willing to help you ensure the success of your membership programs.

  • Exclusive booking access. Utilize intuitive drag-and-drop segmentation tools to create Customer Lists, allowing you to pinpoint early bookers and those who prefer your top-selling events. If they tend to gravitate towards programs that frequently reach capacity, or if they enjoy selecting their preferred seats consistently, offering exclusive booking access could be a compelling reason for them to enroll in your membership program. Setting up exclusive booking access is straightforward, incurs no costs, and can generate revenue through membership fees. This is an excellent choice for those who are new to membership programs and are assessing which features yield the most significant benefits.
  • Eliminating transaction fees. The Ticket Sales Analysis report provides a detailed overview of sales categorized by channel, price range, and additional factors. This report reveals the percentage of customers within your selected segment who buy tickets via phone or at the box office. Removing booking fees for online transactions not only encourages customers to engage, but also allows your box office staff to focus on other tasks by directing patrons to complete their purchases on your website.
  • Charitable contributions. The Donations Analysis report provides insights into the percentage of customers who choose to donate when buying tickets. By pinpointing a group of customers who are already inclined to contribute, a philanthropic membership program could motivate them to advance further in their donation journey.
  • Membership pricing. Analyze customer spending habits through the Customer Analysis report to assess the average expenditure per order and per ticket. This information can help gauge the potential price point for a membership. For instance, if the average order value is £30, a £20 membership would significantly enhance the cart value. Conversely, if the average order value is £100, the same £20 membership could be a more straightforward upsell.

4. Conduct thorough research.

Ensure that you are inquiring effectively about your membership program and its alignment with your overall offerings. Engage with other departments, grasp their strategic objectives, and consider working together to create the most effective membership initiative.

  • Is your membership program providing customers with a more advantageous option compared to existing promotions (such as flexi-series, season passes, or preview events)? It’s essential that your membership is straightforward, free from mixed signals, and ensures that your members receive the most favorable deal.
  • Is your membership program hindering your other fundraising initiatives? If you have goals for individual contributions, ensure that you’re not sending mixed messages by promoting membership while simultaneously requesting regular donations.
  • What is the minimum number of participants required for the program to generate a profit? Be sure to consider the amount of staff time needed as well. After calculating this, is it still a viable option?
  • Who will take charge of overseeing the program? A CRM equipped with effective, integrated fundraising and membership features should simplify the process of establishing and selling memberships, as well as assist members in accessing their benefits. However, even the most advanced software depends on your team dedicating time to review sales data, monitor goals, and consistently enhance the marketing of your memberships.

5. Advertise your membership program.

Despite having attractive incentives available, it’s essential to promote your program to potential customers. Here are some suggestions to help you present your membership invitation to those who are most likely to be interested.

  • Identify prospective members by segmenting your database to target customers according to their previous behaviors. For a commercial membership option, seek individuals who have spent a specific amount on tickets in the last year, as they could benefit from membership savings. For a philanthropic membership option, concentrate on those who consistently contribute at the point of sale.
  • Identify potential members for upselling. After pinpointing your most promising prospective members, mark them in your CRM system. This allows the box office and front-of-house teams to easily recognize them during calls, ticket collections, or scans, creating an opportunity to promote your membership program at the time of sale.
  • Design a straightforward purchasing process. Ensure that customers can easily buy memberships online, whether as part of a larger transaction or as an individual item. With Spektrix, you can combine tailored upsell options at checkout with one-click Membership prompts on your site, creating a seamless and effortless experience for visitors to enroll in your program, regardless of their initial situation.

6. Maintain active participation among your members.

You’ve established a robust membership program and your member base is expanding. Well done! The next step is to ensure they remain engaged. Here are some strategies to achieve that:

  • Enable automatic renewal for memberships. Those that are set to renew automatically experience a 60% boost in renewal rates. By utilizing Continuous Payment Authority, customers can easily acquire renewable memberships online with a simple checkbox, enhancing your long-term revenue while ensuring a seamless booking experience.
  • Encourage members to take full advantage of their benefits. After launching your program, ensure that members are actively utilizing the benefits available to them and are involved with your organization. Implement automated systems to identify patrons who have not utilized important benefits, and reach out to them personally. Alternatively, create automated email campaigns to remind them to take advantage of what’s offered.
  • Encourage your entire team to express gratitude. Use your CRM to tag team members, ensuring they are recognized by the box office and front-of-house staff during each visit. Keep your team updated on member benefits and ongoing charitable initiatives, enabling them to appreciate members for their contributions and inform them about additional perks they can enjoy.

First and foremost, remember to actively listen. Allow members to express their opinions, inquire about additional benefits they desire, and contact those who choose not to renew. Even if you are unable to convince them to return, understanding their reasons for leaving is crucial. While you shouldn’t guarantee to meet every specific request, make sure to document their feedback, identify trends, and leverage this information to foster long-term success.

7. Continue to explore and try new things.

After creating a membership program that aligns with your goals and caters to your audience’s needs, it’s important to keep the momentum going. Many membership initiatives fail to thrive due to a lack of ongoing evaluation. Conduct frequent data assessments and gather member feedback to determine whether the program is meeting your expectations and to identify potential areas for enhancement.

If former members express that the fees are excessive, think about introducing a more affordable, basic tier. If a significant number of individuals opt for your premium tier, contemplate the possibility of offering an even more valuable option. If attendance at post-event discussions is low, consider substituting that feature with something that generates more enthusiasm. The composition of your audience evolves annually, so avoid sticking to the same methods simply out of tradition—diversify your incentives to cater to the needs of your long-term audience while fostering loyalty among the future audience.