Raising dues is always a sensitive topic, but what if there were a way to avoid it altogether and still have significant increases in member recruitment and retention? A CEO shares strategies that worked well for her association.
A question on many people’s minds, as evidenced by a popular thread on ASAE’s Collaborate network [ASAE member login required], is whether now is a good time to raise dues. An even better question might be: Do I even need to raise dues?
For instance, a membership restructure can raise revenue without the need to raise dues, which is one way to get past a thorny issue. Christine Gardner, executive director of the Ohio Association for Career and Technical Education (Ohio CTE), noticed not a lot of teachers were joining the group, which she thought was odd because it represents career educators and has lots of teacher-focused benefits like professional development and special interest groups. However, Ohio CTE did have lots of members who were administrators.
By Lisa Boylan for ASAE
Originally published on May 03, 2022
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