Three Year Retention Communications Plan

HBA: BA of Greater Indianapolis

Category: Membership

Location: Indianapolis

Size: Local Association: 201-600 members

Year: 2023

The goal of the campaign was to improve overall member engagement and boost retention rates by targeting Dues Only members who weren’t engaging with BAGI, with personalized, multi-platform communications geared toward their interests and preferences.

The BA of Greater Indianapolis (BAGI) categorized their members as Dues Only, Supportive, Engaged, and Committed, based on their interaction with BAGI communications with the aim to systematically move members from Non-Engaged to Supportive, Supportive to Engaged and Engaged to Committed. The BA accomplished this through a communication preferences survey and a personal touchpoint program. BAGI looked at members individually, developing tailored communications that would be meaningful on a personal level. BAGI then analyzed individual members’ relationships with the BA, successfully segmented them and assigned an average lifetime value to each member type.

The specific campaign goals included reducing member attrition by 5%, increasing new memberships by 5%, increasing event attendance by 10%, increasing sponsorship dollars by $50,000, and meeting a 3:1 return on investment (ROI) ratio.

BAGI tracked the following metrics to gauge success: retention rates and dues revenue; referral revenue, sponsorship revenue; website (visitors, clicks, page duration); impact team interest and attendance; event participation/engagement; social media reach/impressions; earned media/press hits; email open/bounce/click rates; video views; and annual survey results.

BAGI’s year one of the three-year program was $151,527, an above average 3.83:1 ratio. The BA not only met but exceeded their 3:1 ratio goal.