Welcome, chapter volunteer leaders! Whether you’re the chapter membership chair or responsible for recruiting and retaining members and/or delivering membership value, this may be for you!
Membership Fun Fact: What percentage of our members have at least 20 years with SMPS and what percentage have at least 16-20? The answer is 8% and 4%, respectively. How is your chapter recognizing our loyal members? Whether it be a featured article on your website, a chapter newsletter blurb, or a lunch, they deserve our thanks and acknowledgement!
Complimentary Membership and Webinars: Per calendar year, and to be used for a new/reinstating membership or a renewal, each chapter is afforded one complimentary membership ($449 value) and complimentary webinars ($518 value). To request, please email membership@smps.org and specify whether the recipient(s) have been identified, and we will further instruct. This is a recruitment tool intended to grow membership and to build loyalty. As you select the recipient or award it, please recognize those who join SMPS under the comp membership because they are less likely to renew after the first year than those others. Investment into these members may require a little extra love and care.
Member Value Outreach (MVO): In partnership with chapters, SMPS HQ is introducing MVO where HQ staff is placing outbound calls to renewing members, too. While our calls are important, outreach from the chapter due to your unique relationship with members may seal the deal. As a reminder, log into smps.org to access your expiring member query. Stay tuned for a new query entitled “MVP Outreach” so that you can see HQ call outcomes in real time.
Membership Referrals: While this program will be reviewed and refined, SMPS HQ is still honoring the membership referral program when an existing member who refers a first-time member will receive a complimentary extension of their own membership. Once the referred joins, please email us at membership@smps.org and let us bestow extended membership to you as a thank you!
Membership Transfers: There are a few scenarios and processes to be aware of.
- If a member is with an employer and their role has changed or another employer would benefit more from membership, they can transfer the remaining portion of their membership to another colleague. At that point, the inheritor would receive the remaining portion of the membership by inheriting the expiration date of the previous member, and the previous member’s membership would be terminated/dropped.
- If a paid member has left an employer who previously paid for their membership, the former employee would retain their membership through the original expiration date and a new person, identified by the employer, would receive free membership through the same expiration date as the former employee. To initiate, please email membership@smps.org.
Expired Members: It’s not too late for July and August 2025 expirations to renew as both groups are still active and within the 70-day grace period.
Dropped Members: June expirations were dropped (query = ”Dropped members with termination date”). Moving forward, they would need to reinstate as a former member. At the end of this month, we will send each a survey asking them why they didn’t renew and to encourage them to reinstate today!
Membership Retention: Three things to focus on as they relate to retention:
- Start tracking member engagement.
- Conduct an internal member value inventory and ranking exercise.
- Begin measuring membership satisfaction. Each are discussed in the most recent meetups, which have been recorded: Retention Strategies That Work and Recruitment with Purpose
Chapter queries: To access your chapter queries, log into smps.org and leverage the Start option in the left-hand margin. Need access? Please contact us at membership@smps.org.
See you next time for the Membership Corner! Any questions? Reach out to Bryan Lipps at HQ at bryan@smps.org.
