The ARC’s Listen Up!Series on Member Needs & Satisfaction #1: The Bird’s Eye View

Shhh!!  Listen closely!  Do you hear that?

Meh.

Could that be the sound your members are making with they think about their association?

Over the past few years, we have compiled data in 47 studies carried out on member needs and satisfaction for 37 different associations in Canada.*  On the whole, the trend among the associations we’ve studied suggests that association members are reasonably satisfied with the organizations that represent them...but they aren’t blown away. 

In each of these studies, we benchmarked member satisfaction and needs across a number of key indicators.  Following are the average results for each category:**

	Benchmark Measure	Rating
	Overall Satisfaction	67%
	Satisfaction With Services	72%
	Satisfaction With Representation	57%
	Ease of Having Voice Heard	64%
	Member Influence	60%
	Effectiveness of Communicating	71%
	Overall Benchmark Satisfaction Rating	65%

In a world where a growing number of associations are competing for a shrinking number of members and where people are able to meet more of the needs they have traditionally turned to associations for by going online, we all know too well that mediocrity is a very dangerous thing.

So, why are satisfaction levels for associations so, well...average?  Following are some of the trends we are seeing behind the numbers:

Members Aren’t Charting the Course

Member influence, the extent to which members feel they have a direct and tangible impact on the direction and priorities of their association is a significant source of dissatisfaction among members of many not-for-profits.  

While marks by members on how easy they feel it is to be heard by their association are marginally better, this is also an issue for associations.

It is one thing (and a very important thing) to regularly seek member input to find out how your members think you are doing and where they want you to be headed in the future.  The key to really raising the bar, however, is to actually take this input and turn it into a reality.  Once you have achieved some real results, communicating back to members that that you have acted on their input will help them to see how they have made a difference.   Once members realize that their input truly matters, they are more likely to be excited about what is going on and more willing to pitch in to help the organization achieve its goals.

Advocacy is a Priority...and Associations Aren’t Up to Snuff… or Are They?

Member representation to stakeholders like the government, the media and the public is definitely a sore spot when it comes to member satisfaction.  For many of our clients, representing their members’ interests to governments and other key groups is one of the primary reasons why members join an association in the first place.  Because it is so important, it also tends to be one of the attributes they judge most harshly. 

There are many underlying issues that can contribute to low scores in this area but one common factor tends to be not that an association isn’t doing enough in the way of government or public relations, but that members are simply not aware of the organization’s strategy or accomplishments in this area.  Another factor is that members are also often not aware of what is realistically possible to achieve from advocacy efforts.

Again, ensuring your advocacy strategy is in-line with your member needs and communicating effectively with them about your organization’s initiatives, goals, expectations  and accomplishments in this area are some of the tactics associations have used to improve member satisfaction here.

Better Tidings for Services

Overall member satisfaction with services received have traditionally gotten strong ratings, suggesting that while there is always room for improvement, members are pretty happy with the performance of associations in this area.  Satisfaction with services is only measured among members who use each service.  Despite high ratings, many associations struggle with member usage and awareness of services… but this is a topic for another day.

Communications Strong...When Targeted Properly

Effectiveness of communication to members is another area where many associations tend to do well.  Sending the kind of information your members want and need, using the delivery channels with the best ‘fit,’ and finding the sweet spot between sending too little and too much information are some of the success factors we have seen in this area.

While associations seem to be doing a pretty good job at communicating overall, lower scores across many of the other benchmarks suggest that some types of information just might not be getting through.   Members need to know what their association is up to, how their input is being used to drive the agenda, and where the association stands in terms of achieving results in each category.

Embedding effective communication across each of the benchmarks has helped many of our clients to raise satisfaction across the board, while failure to do so is almost certain to have the opposite effect.

What have been your association’s successes and challenges in achieving success (or not) in these key areas?  We have seen many associations score well above (and some well below) these averages -   I would love to hear about your experiences.

Stay tuned for our next instalment of the Listen Up! Series, when we start to dig into the detail of how people perceive, participate and experience their associations through member services.

Looking for More Information on ARC’s research capabilities?  Please visit our corporate website, or email me through this blog or directly at carolanne@associationconsultants.com.

*About This Research

The sample used for this discussion consists of the most recent results for 37 Canadian associations who have conducted member satisfaction and needs studies over the past few years incorporating the Association Resource Centre’s benchmarking tool.  The sample includes professional, trade and industry associations, including 10 provincial, 24 national, and 3 regional/municipal organizations.  Sectors represented include healthcare, finance, construction/contracting, manufacturing, education, sales, public service, and leisure. 

It is important to note that the ARC Listen Up! Series is based on a small sample of not-for-profit organizations and for this reason the results should not be interpreted to be statistically representative.  Rather, these results should be viewed as the general trends and observations seen by the Association Resource Centre’s consulting team of its clients over the past decade in the area of member satisfaction and needs research.

**A Note on Interpreting the Benchmarking Results

What satisfaction score needs to be achieved before an association can say its members are satisfied?  It depends on the association.  For some associations, it is simply not possible to achieve over 70% no matter how well they perform, while for others, 70% may be considered low. 

For this reason, it is important to consider the nature and dynamics of the association when interpreting satisfaction scores.  To properly assess satisfaction requires tracking it over time and seeing how it changes while keeping in mind what the association has done to try to improve its performance. 

Having worked closely with not-for-profits for many years and conducting studies in this area for many clients, ARC has developed a good sense of what different ratings mean in different organizations and has developed a scale which can be used by associations seeking to benchmark their results against other similar organizations.