Fierce Membership: Telling Your Fierce Members' Stories

Last week I was honored to present a webinar, “Fierce Membership: 7 Ways to Keep From Losing Your Most Engaged Members.”

What is "fierce membership" and how is it different than what associations have witnessed before?

A "fierce member"...:

• knows their benefits and probably wants all of them plus more
• wants to be involved in volunteer efforts and will leave if not given the chance to change the organization (after all, they are already educated and active in the other free ways to engage, as well)
• desperately wants to change the organization for the better from the inside-out
• isn't satisfied with annual meetings - is looking for more engagement
• can be your best advocate or worst enemy - depending on how you treat them

One of the ways to keep fierce members happy is in telling the story of powerful volunteer opportunities within an organization, sharing why and how these fierce members have been as engaged as they are. During the webinar we discussed ways to capture those stories through video recordings.

Here are some questions I like to use when collecting stories or testimonials:

• What was your first volunteer activity and how did it lead you to how you are involved with this organization today?
• What is the most meaningful project you’ve worked on with us and why?
• You have invested so much time and energy into your volunteer activities here. What do you get out of this?
• How can new volunteers get more out of their engagements?
• Do you feel that you’ve left your mark on this organization? If so, how? If not, when will you feel that you have? What will it take to feel that you’ve achieved what you want to do?

Also suggested during the webinar…

“We did exactly that - at our Leadership Forum we selected some volunteers who were interviewed as to why they volunteer and what would they say to someone who was thinking of volunteering. We will highlight one of these interviews each month on our website.”

Who are your fierce members and how do you capture their stories? Share your thoughts in the comments! 

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Upcoming webinar! I will be presenting the free webinar, "The Beauty of Buzz: The 5 Social Tools for Events Every Planner Must Have" on February 19th at 10 am ET. If you'd like to attend, just register here!