We all know that members join associations for the benefits that they offer. The benefits vary from association to association and can include special discounts, networking opportunities, conferences and more. When you pitch potential members your organization you offer a value proposition.

What’s That?
A value proposition is what an organization does, that will cause their members to realize tangible benefits through the use of their product or service. It is more than just the product you provide; or even how you sell your service, or distribute it. It is how you string all these components together to best serve your members and deliver real value.

When we provide group insurance at a reduced rate only we can do that for our members. We are not an insurance company but we can give them it as something they cannot get on their own.

Complex, Not Complicated

We want to make our value proposition as complex as possible. This means bringing together lots of little parts that members cannot get anywhere else. While some of your association’s competitors can offer some of what you offer your members should not be able to find everything that you have somewhere else.

We want to make our value proposition as clear and transparent as possible so members can understand what it is. If members cannot understand what you are offering them they will lose interest or become frustrated. If you are wondering about the clarity of your value proposition try explaining it to a long time member. This will help you build a value proposition that is simple to understand and reflective of your membership experience.

The Right Reasons

We need to understand value propositions for the right reasons. This means trying to give our members as much value as possible. It means wanting to know why our members come to us and why they leave. We do not want to set up a value proposition that exists only to tell members that we are good. We do not want set it up as a marketing piece because we will not have a clear and deep understanding of the value.

In order for non profit leadership to get the core of their value proposition we will need to understand our members. Check next week’s post for suggestions on how to accomplish that. 

Did this post change the way you think about delivering the best value to your members? Let us know in the comments or on social media.