It’s no secret that an engaged member base is essential to a thriving association. After all, your members provide the interest and revenue your organization needs to create offerings that benefit not only them but also their professional field as a whole.

However, your membership strategy can hit a standstill if you don’t give the members who are already involved more meaningful ways to engage. Without those additional opportunities, longtime members may get bored with the basics and become disengaged.

When you do step up your member engagement efforts, this loyal segment can become your association’s strongest contributors and also inspire others to get involved. Let’s look at three strategies for making this vision of cultivating association advocates a reality.

Create a Mobile-Friendly Member Community

Many of your members likely joined your association to connect with other professionals in their industry. A member community provides the perfect opportunity to fulfill that desire on demand, which also leads to consistent active engagement and a more valuable member experience.

Online member communities have existed for many years, both on dedicated association platforms and through third-party channels like Facebook groups. However, Clowder’s memberengagement software guide points out that “your association exists not only in a digital-first world, but a mobile-first one…Especially if your association members skew younger or tend to spend most of their workdays on the go, you may consider investing in software with mobile engagement capabilities to meet them where they are.”

To build an effective member community via an association mobile app or similar platform, make sure your chosen solution includes features like:

• A news feed that members can customize to their preferences
• A resource library where you can upload documents, slide decks, videos, and other reference materials
• Member forums that facilitate discussion of industry topics
• One-to-one messaging to allow for secure, convenient networking
• Group and chapter segmentation so members see the information most relevant to them
• Event and conference management to integrate one-time and ongoing engagement tactics
• In-app advertising and sponsor features for an extra source of nondues revenue

Ensure members are automatically invited into your member community when they join so they can quickly ramp up their engagement.

Offer Higher-Level Engagement Opportunities

Besides your member community, events and professional development are probably your association’s main ways of engaging members. However, some members may want to go beyond these activities—which mainly benefit them as individuals—and participate in initiatives that also provide benefits for other members or your organization more generally.

To cater to that interest, consider starting programs at your association for:

• Awards: Let members nominate peers to be recognized for their outstanding achievements in or beyond your organization, hold contests where members can submit their own work for awards, or present badges or certificates for membership milestones (anniversaries, course completions, etc.).
• Volunteering: Provide opportunities for members to give their time to your organization (e.g., by assisting with event preparations or packaging new member welcome kits) or partner with nonprofits that share your association’s values and organize community-facing volunteer activities together.
• Mentorship: Pair new members with longtime members who share similar professional interests so the new members have an experienced contact to ask for guidance on association involvement and career development.

Since these programs have wider-reaching benefits, they can get your association in front of more potential members via word of mouth, especially from participating members.

Regularly Gather Member Input

Committed association members are generally passionate about improving the organizations they belong to. They’re also more likely to talk about your association positively if they know their voices are being heard because this reassures them that you care about them, too.

To achieve this win-win scenario, provide multiple ways for members to give feedback on a regular basis, such as:

• Sending out recurring surveys about the member experience, implementing the best suggestions, and communicating the results.
• Adding a feedback form to your website so members can share ideas or concerns whenever they come to mind.
• Collecting testimonials about specific initiatives, which you might also use in your marketing materials with members’ consent.

Make sure to respond to all the input you receive graciously, even if members suggest an idea you can’t implement or express dissatisfaction with some aspects of their experience.

Being honest but professional in your dialogues portrays your association positively, no matter how you respond to their feedback.

The strategies above are just a few of the many possible ways to transform passive member engagement into active advocacy. Consider your members’ unique preferences and the tools and resources available to you as you decide how to enhance your membership experience.