9 Ideas to Connect My Association Members

When thinking about why people join your association, it's natural (and important) to wonder what motivates them. For professional accreditation organisations, some join because they have to, while others genuinely want to be a part of the community.

No matter a member's initial motivation for joining, your association should cultivate strong connections among your members. Building an environment where members can effortlessly interact and engage with one another nurtures a dynamic and supportive community, ultimately bolstering your member growth and retention.

9 Ways to Help Members Connect 

Let's explore nine ways to help your members connect with each other and understand why each is important for member satisfaction and keeping members engaged. 

1. Member Directory

You could let those connections flourish naturally and organically. With a member directory, members can search for and contact each other based on shared interests or location.

But data privacy is important. With the iMIS Engagement Management System, you can easily restrict access to members only and make it a tangible member benefit. Then your membership can easily search for and, if permitted, contact other members and start a connection. The standard search is fairly simple but the power of iMIS means that you can quickly adapt that search to include specific shared interests/specialties or even a geographical radius search to prioritise local connections.

2. Chapters and Special Interest Groups

Chapters are a great way for members to connect with peers. By promoting chapters during membership renewal, members can discover and connect with new groups.

If you’re using iMIS, chapters can even become self-managing by assigning a Chapter Administrator role to a member. Chapter Administrators are able to edit chapter member profile pages, edit or add contacts, and pay dues on behalf of chapter members. This role allows members (not just staff members!) to take a stronger role in your association, providing a sense of belonging and purpose.

3. Events:

Make sure events aren't just about information and education. Create opportunities for members to connect with each other during breaks, networking sessions, or social events. Encouraging mingling and interactive activities can foster meaningful connections. Here are a few ideas: 

• Drinks after the day’s sessions are over 
• Make the gaps between sessions slightly longer so that there’s enough time for the trip to the bathroom, topping up the coffee cup, checking email to make sure the world hasn’t ended during the last session, and talking to the people around you.  
• Maybe controversial: Mix up tables so people don’t just sit in the same place for every session. Some of the more interesting conversations I’ve had at conferences have been when I’ve sat in a different place and connected with someone new.
  

Related article from the iMIS Blog: Creating a Strong Call-to-Action for Association Event Marketing

4. Online (Not) Meetings: 

The pandemic made us all used to online meeting tools, like Zoom, to conduct our daily tasks and allow us to attend our annual conferences virtually. But what about using those same tools to aid with more general connection?

During the pandemic, we set up a recurring Zoom meeting for 5pm on a Thursday. Everyone was invited but no one had to join. It was an opportunity to connect, catch up on what was going on with each other, and simply stay in touch. I’d suggest that the same technique could be applied to chapters, special interest groups, committees or even just a general opportunity to connect. Regular virtual meetups can provide a relaxed platform for members to catch up and share experiences.

If you use iMIS, the member portal is an ideal place to publicise these events and provide links to join. You can then turn that attendance data into a measure of engagement for your internal use to drive your decisions and marketing.

5. Communities: 

Online communities, a bit like chapters, allow people to interact with like-minded individuals and engage in discussions. These communities can serve as a hub for members to share ideas, seek advice, and form connections. The online aspect gives members flexibility - they can engage at any time of day.

Discussion boards are great ways for people to connect. Ask a question and get replies from people you had no idea were fellow members!

6. Mentoring: 

Some of the most rewarding times in my career have been when I’ve encountered someone who has mentored me in a particular aspect of my professional development.

Your association will have a wealth of people who are either in need of a mentor or who would love to become a mentor. It’s your job to help make those connections.

If your association uses iMIS, I recommend tracking the efficiency of the mentoring program to make sure that both parties get value from their invested time. This will help you adjust the program to make it even stronger, and therefore provide more value to members.

7. A Competition:

Participating in activities such as races, quizzes, or score-based challenges can ignite lively conversations and forge connections like nothing else! Why not make communication with other members part of your engagement scoring or even its own score? 

Or you could use iMIS’s scoring module to calculate your individual members’ progress against targets and award badges for completion. Ranking those who are rising and falling on the leaderboard and encouraging comments and interaction could be a great way to foster connections.

8. Communication and Storytelling:

Do your members know who’s joined? How much do your members know about the great things that other members are doing? When someone new joins I’m sure you send them a welcome letter or email thanking them for their membership. But what if you put a message on your member portal saying “Please welcome John who’s just joined us from Smith and Sons” How about giving people a way to add a quick comment to say “hi” in their own words?

Where possible make sure that people can actually communicate with each other so it’s not just feeding information. Make it interactive so that people can respond in their own name and make that connection.

That goes for Storytelling as well. I’m sure you use real member stories in your newsletters. But do you let people interact with those stories, do you let them add comments? Again that’s a great way of provoking conversations and people making and building connections.

9. Social Media:

A full discussion on the pros and cons of social media and the use of social media in a business environment has already filled numerous door-stop-sized books. All I want to say is, don’t discount social media.

A large percentage of your membership likely has a Facebook or LinkedIn account. And that’s before we get to the numerous other platforms (X, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, WhatsApp, YouTube, WeChat, Snapchat, Quora, Discord ... and the list goes on). Before jumping into social, make sure your members and prospective members are using the platform(s) you want to use. You could try surveying your members to gauge their general social media usage and interest in interacting with your association on social media.

Check out 21 Social Media Best Practices to Follow from Hootsuite to learn how to get started, decide which platforms to focus on, and get the most out of social media for your association.

The Bottom Line:

By implementing these strategies, your association can actively promote connections among members, leading to increased satisfaction, a stronger sense of community, and potentially improved member retention rates. Creating an environment where members can easily connect and engage with each other fosters a vibrant and supportive community, ultimately contributing to the overall success and growth of your association.

Encouraging meaningful connections among members not only enhances their individual experiences but also contributes to the collective strength and impact of your association in the professional landscape. Embracing these strategies can truly transform your association into a thriving community where members feel valued, supported, and connected.

From the Performance Improvement Series

Guide: Delivering an Unforgettable Web Experience

This educational guide highlights how delivering a highly personalized online environment draws members in and is a key element of your member recruitment and retention strategy.

Start actively engaging your members