As division leaders, your role is to ensure that your division meets the unique needs of your members within the various fields of psychology you represent. While offering benefits to encourage membership and renewals is important, it is not the sole factor in member engagement.
Members seek expertise, connection, and recognition. These are the reasons they volunteer, attend your sessions, and pursue professional development. Here are some strategies to personalize the member experience and enhance connections:
- Facilitate connections: For instance, a student may feel hesitant to approach a speaker or board member at a convention. Consider making introductions, asking questions, and discussing ways students can contribute to your division's work.
- Solicit and share feedback: Request feedback from your members, engage your division experts, and recognize outstanding contributions. Keep members informed about your ongoing projects and their significance.
- Convene members: While member engagement with the division is valuable, fostering connections among members is equally important. Organize activities such as “Ask Me Anything” panels, online hangouts, social media interactions, or other initiatives to bring members together.
- Utilize the APA Community: if your division has a presence on the APA Communityopens in new window, consider highlighting member accomplishments, welcoming new members, promoting award opportunities and promoting recipients. Ask questions that spark discussions or find other ways to inspire members to connect with each other.
- Personalize touchpoints: Reach out with personalized notes to members on your roster. Even if you do not know them personally, introduce yourself, your membership chair, or other key individuals who can enhance their experience. For example:
“Hello Dr. Smith, I see you are a new member. I’m glad you’ve joined the division. I am reaching out to introduce myself...”
“Hi Dr. Jackson, I see you have been a member for several years. Thank you for your support. I wanted to share our plans for the upcoming year...”
Creating membership value in today’s landscape requires a blend of traditional recruitment and retention efforts with a focus on personal connections.
We’d love to hear about your strategies. Share your tips, comments, and questions with your division engagement liaison.