And just like that, summer has come to an end and the fall is already here.
Have you started thinking about your membership and renewal campaigns for this year? How are you going to promote them? What tools are you going to use? No need to panic— we've got you covered! We've prepared a checklist for you to make sure that your year starts out on the right foot.
Have you started thinking about your membership and renewal campaigns for this year? How are you going to promote them? What tools are you going to use? No need to panic— we've got you covered! We've prepared a checklist for you to make sure that your year starts out on the right foot.
1- Create a game plan
First things first: the first thing you need is a clear and specific plan that you’re going to implement. In this respect, nothing compares to a marketing strategy.Having a strategy will help you take the necessary steps to reach your objectives and fulfil your organization's mission. Here are a few elements that you can include in your strategic plan.
- A calendar of posts on your website and social media
- Your NPO's editorial line
- The calendar of events that you plan to organize
- How you plan to communicate with your members or potential donors (such as the tone and vocabulary used)
- A typology of members of your community (such as their age, sex, profession and business sector)
2 - Grow your community
Once you've established your strategy, reach out to people who are already part of your community to go beyond your circle. Make them ambassadors for your organization: update them on your activities by email and on social media, and encourage them to share your content. You can also propose times to meet and talk with them so that you can get their feedback and stay in tune with your audience's needs. It's also a good way to (re)motivate your organization's members and recruit potential volunteers.3 - Make life easier with digital tools
At Yapla, we believe that digital technology is an incredible resource for NPOs, both for communicating and for managing your organization. Today, there are many easy-to-use tools available to manage your projects, exchange ideas, collaborate, communicate and analyze your performance.4 - Check that everything is in order
In sum, you must examine all of your organization's activities and all of the points that require improvements, whether manually or using management software.Here are a few things to check:
Member management
- Have prices or membership dates changed?
- Have you automated renewals?
- Have you updated your website with new members and testimonials?
- Are there new advantages to being a member?
Events organization
- Have you established your calendar of activities for the year?
- Have you displayed the calendar on your website?
- Have you decided that you're going to give the first registrants a special rate? Or members and the general public?
Collecting donations
- Have you prepared your fundraisers for the year?
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Have you decided if you're going to offer the option to make donations
recurring, one-time only, or both? - How are you going to keep track of donors?
- If you're eligible to provide tax receipts, have you automated their sending?
Communications
- What type of email are you going to send to confirm registrations?
- Are you going to create a newsletter?
- Are you going to issue invoices or other documents?
Accounting
- Can you issue invoices?
- What payment methods do you accept?
- How are you going to track online and offline payments?
