One of the most difficult aspects of managing a user group lies in the area of membership, in both recruitment of new members and retention of existing members. Although closely tied together, I will only be discussing the recruitment aspect in this document.

I have been fortunate enough to be part of an organization that has grown from 200 members in 1988 to a high of 5,000 members in 1995. Although the membership has declined in the last few years, ( the reasons for which will be discussed later ) we are still maintaining 4,000 members and have been fairly constant for the last 2 years. Now, you are probably asking yourself, "how did they grow so much?". Well, to put it a plainly as I can, work. Work from some very dedicated members of the Board of Directors and work from some very dedicated volunteers. With this said, let's recruit some new members.

The first step in recruitment is to decide what you have to offer to someone that they might have trouble finding elsewhere. Some examples are:

The camaraderie of fellow computer users to share ideas with. Tips and tricks contained in your newsletter. Monthly meetings that include presentations by national vendors or demonstrations of a specific product, by one of your members. If possible, this should include door prizes to spur attendance. Special Interest Groups (SIG's) on a wide variety of subjects and, if possible, a computer lab in which they can meet. A telephone help committee formed of members in the organization who are willing to spend some time to help others with specific problems. A newsletter that includes articles of interest, reviews of specific software and hardware products, ads from local industry vendors that include discounts to members of the organization. Community Involvement

Now that we have decided on what we have to sell, how do we actually market ourselves to the community?

Newsletter - Include an application in each newsletter so that non- members that pick up your newsletter can have the opportunity to join the group. Organize some specific marketing campaigns that promote the members to help in getting new members. Some examples that we have used include: "Member - Get a Member" Every couple of years, we run this campaign to promote word of mouth advertising. We keep track of the total number of members that were recruited, and, who recruited them. At the end of the program, we award the member who recruited the most new members with a prize that we solicit from one of our vendors or supporters. This has been one of the most successful ventures that we have used in the last few years. "The Christmas Card" A card type insert is placed in our magazine that is to be given to a non-member friend or associate. When the card is filled out and returned, the non-member is treated to a two month membership in the organization with all rights and privileges ( except voting ). At the end of the trial period, he or she is contacted and given the opportunity to become a regular member. This gives them the chance to try out the organization, see the benefits, read the newsletter and generally feel good about becoming a member of your outstanding group, before they actually have to commit by paying the annual dues.

Community Involvement - Seek volunteers from your group to work on community projects. This could have a two-fold benefit to your organization in that it allows you to gain exposure in the community and could quite possibly gain sponsors for your organization from this exposure in addition to getting new members. BRM Mail outs - If financially feasible, consider doing a couple of mail outs to prospective individuals. Include a postage paid envelope for the potential new member to send in his application along with his dues. If you do this on a large scale basis, you will first need to register with the local postal authority, pay a small fee ( usually around $85.00) and receive your BRM number. This number will become your stamp, and must be printed on each BRM envelope.

Where do you find this list of potential new members? Mailing lists come from many sources including:

Purchase from a reputable mailing house - Again, depending on the financial feasibility of the project, consider purchasing a list for one time use, from a professional mailing house. The list will be comprised of the zip code area that you specify and may contain from 100 names to over 10,000 names depending on the locale. Compile and maintain an in-house list of prospective members that you obtain from various sources. You might get names from local computer resellers, local hardware and software vendors, or from records of past visitors to your groups functions such as your community involvement functions listed above. If you are having a national presenter at your monthly meeting, ask them if they are doing a mailing advertising the meeting and raising attendance. If they are, ask if you can include an application form in the mailing. If not, ask them if you can use their list of users in your area, to advertise the meeting and include your application pointing out the benefits of being a member.

We give each recruitment campaign a different code so we can track how successful the campaign was whether we want to use it again in the future.

So, now we have decided what we have to market and have put out the word and gotten some new members. What now? Well, it now falls back to the membership chair to complete the induction of the new member into the organization. Listed below are the steps that are used in our group, along with some recommendations.

Enter the new members pertinent information ( Name, Address, Phone#, etc...)into the membership database. We also include the following information about the member: Birthday - For Birthday cards and to determine age used in demographic studies. Profession - Used to recruit volunteers when a specific job function needs filling. E-Mail address Work phone number Recruitment code or sponsoring member's membership number Remarks - Used to add any important info not covered above.

Each month, the membership director compiles a digital file containing the names and address of all active members and forwards it to our mailing house for the preparation of the labels used to mail out our magazine. We use a professional mailing house because of our size. In addition, a separate file containing the names and address of all memberships that are expiring with the next two months is compiled and sent to the mailing house for the purpose of sending out renewal letters urging the member to renew their membership. It is very important that these letters be personalized to the member. Never send a "boiler plate" letter, as we have found that these do not work well.

If the member does not renew his membership by the expiration of his current membership year, he is sent another request. If his membership lapses, we give him a personal call to inquire why he did not renew. We keep this data in a database to be used to correct any problems that might arise. This information is also used by our retention team to determine if we need to make changes to the organization's procedures to reflect any changes in the attitudes of members.

We have found that the main reason for non-renewing of memberships is the Internet. In past years, a user group was the best place to get help and information concerning computers and software. With the growing popularity of the Internet, people can more readily find this type of information on line. On the flip side, our most popular SIG is our Internet jumpstart SIG and this draws a lot of new members.

I am not going to discuss retention in this document except to say that one thing that we have tried seem to work. We are offering a change to renew your membership for up to three years at a time, with a $5.00 discount on future year renewals. A great many of our members have taken advantage of this. This helps the organization in two different ways. First, we do not have to send out any renewal letters and second, we have the dues in the bank for future use. This greatly aids in the budgeting process.

In closing, I would like to add the following comments. In the preparation of this document, I relied on, and depicted, the procedures that are used in our organization. They may not all work in yours, and are to be used as suggestions only. One of the most important things that you, as a membership chair, can do is to keep the lines of communication open. Be sure that you communicate any ideas that you have with the other officers of your group, and encourage them to communicate any ideas that they have. In addition, stay in communication with the membership chairs of other organizations and user groups in your area. Find out what is working and what isn't. Get creative. It’s amazing what people will respond to.