Lucy Katan discusses how to make membership renewals easier.
Ask a Membership Officer of any NGB what their biggest challenge is and the answer will always be “subscription renewals”.
Membership attrition is one of the biggest challenges for any membership organisation – and retention is always better than recruitment – so one of the best tools for tackling this issue is the introduction of direct debits.
Simply put, a direct debit is an instruction from your member to their bank or building society. It authorises your organisation to collect varying amounts from their account – but only if they’ve been given advanced notice of the amounts and dates of collection.
The money is deducted automatically at a specific time period, ie annually or monthly. If you wish to change the amount or date of collection for your organisation, you have to tell the member about it first.
In a nutshell, direct debit is the simplest and most convenient way for you to collect membership fees. The benefits include a lack of chasing for renewals and a more guaranteed membership income - as well as convenience for your members.
How to set up a direct debit system
Depending on your circumstances your might be able to collect direct debits via your bank, although there are alternatives.
A direct debit collection bureau will also manage the collections for you. There are many to select from, but here at the Sport and Recreation Alliance we use SmartDebit.
Direct debits can be paperless, online and even built into your own website and CRM.
We are a small team and we spend a lot of time on membership renewals. We already have 20% of our membership on an annual direct debit and our aim is to convert the majority.
Our members will be notified in good time prior to the subscriptions collection just in case they have any issues with payment.
So far the reception to swopping to direct debit as a means of annual payment has been really positive
Entice your membership into direct debit
Moving a member onto a direct debit payment scheme is a big win for an organisation; you will have the ability to retain that individual for years to come and will be saving on administration costs.
It is not uncommon for organisations to offer incentives to entice new and old members into the direct debit payment option. British Cycling offers a discounted price for taking the direct debit offer, some offer a month’s free membership, and the National Trust give away a free pair of binoculars!
Direct Debit is the only option
Cost implications and time commitment have led some organisations to only offer a direct debit sign up when joining new members, did you know that Unison only offers a direct debit payment option for its 1.3 million members?
Direct debit is an efficient and time-saving tool for both an organisation and its members.
If you would like any further advice on setting up a direct debit scheme for your organisation please me Membership Officer, Lucy Katan at lkatan@sportandrecreation.org.uk.
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