
What's a Nonprofit Membership Program? An FAQ Guide
Maximizing Nonprofit Membership Programs: Benefits, Structure, and Tools
Managing your nonprofit’s membership program can feel
daunting, whether you’re managing an existing program or
creating one from scratch. But they’re also one of the
best ways to grow your nonprofit and
diversify your revenue streams!
Nonprofit membership programs can help your
organization raise money, build your network, and give
members a louder voice in your organization or community.
Read on to find out how a membership program can benefit
your nonprofit.
What is a nonprofit membership program?
Nonprofit membership programs
offer perks to your nonprofit’s supporters in exchange for
their donations and support. Your organization advances
its goals while members receive exclusive benefits in
thanks for their help—everyone wins!
Nonprofit
membership programs can take various forms. Here are just
a few examples:
- The Southern Business Women’s Network of Australia offers one paid tier, providing the same perks to all paying members
- The SOMA Chamber of Commerce offers different tiers of support according to the size of the member business but offers networking events to all members
- The Arkansas Wildlife Federation offers specialized titles to reflect different tiers’ dedication, offering digital and physical rewards from newsletters to calendars to all members
What are the benefits of nonprofit membership programs?
Here are just a few benefits of creating and running
a nonprofit membership program:
-
Diversified and stable revenue stream. If your membership perks fit your donor base’s needs,
odds are members will want to renew their membership!
Offering perks to loyal supporters also leaves you more
attention to focus on attracting new donations.
- Opportunities to grow donor support through tiers. Donor tiers create increasing levels of value for your members. The more value a tier offers, the more that membership is worth to donors—and the more donation revenue comes your way!
- New avenues for donor engagement. A membership program makes reaching out to your donor base easier. Open lines of communication with your membership go a long way toward developing a better—and more customized—member experience!
- Opportunities to create special appreciation and engagement events. An event showing appreciation to your members can be a great opportunity to showcase your organization’s initiatives and develop donor loyalty.
How do I determine the best structure for my program?
Membership programs take many forms: flat fee models
with standardized benefits, tiered models with varying
benefits by tier, and something in between.
Knowing
which membership model is right for your
organization
depends not only on your organization’s mission but also
its budget and donor base. Here are some factors to
consider when structuring your membership program:
-
Your organization’s goals. Are you
trying to reach a certain fundraising target? Attract
new members or donors? Develop new methods of donor
outreach?
-
Benefits. What kind of benefits will
your nonprofit offer members? Are they physical,
digital, event-based, or a combination? What will they
cost to produce, host, or send out?
-
Dues and tiers. Once you know the cost
of your benefits, you can set benefit tiers. Do you have
enough benefits to offer multiple tiers, or is a flat
structure right for you?
- Target audience. Apply all knowledge you have about your donor base and community. Are these dues within your donors’ usual giving threshold? Do these rewards make sense for your donors’ priorities?
If you’re redesigning an existing membership
program, consider
seeking input from existing members
on their wants and needs from benefits and tiers. You can
also survey prospective members for a new membership
program!
What tools will I need to run the program?
Here are just a few tools to help you run a
nonprofit membership program:
-
Member management software. Member
management software not only keeps track of your
members, but also member demographics, preferences, and
their history with your organization. It also functions
as a convenient way to communicate with your members!
- Money management. Services like DipJar are perfect for dues collection, complete with support for donation campaigns.
- Website builders. A good nonprofit website provides information about your organization’s mission and successes. It should also list your membership tiers!
- Member portals. Members-only sites can be great places for members to connect and receive membership perks. They can also facilitate easy membership renewal
- Communication tools. Members-only forums and bulletin boards can build community, drive engagement, and get the word out about your organization’s donation campaigns and membership drives.
Look for
member management tools
offering mutual integration capabilities to get the most
value from member information. With integrations, you’ll
be able to analyze big-picture trends or access
individuals’ history with your organization
in the same place!
How do I effectively grow my membership?
Growing your membership relies not only on acquiring
new members but on retaining the members you already have.
Before starting a new membership drive, make sure your
organization has these key retention strategies down:
- Member experience. How are new members welcomed? How are communications throughout the membership experience? Is it easy to access perks? Are these factors being actively monitored by your organization?
-
Provide real value. Remember that perks
are only really perks if they match the wants and needs
of your donor base and community. Do your perks have
your donor base in mind?
-
Collect feedback. Soliciting feedback
from members is the number one way to make sure perk
supply is matching demand. A
member needs assessment
is a fantastic way to learn about the wants and needs of
your donor base!
- Show your appreciation. In a note, dispatch, or a whole event, make sure members know how valued their continued support of your organization truly is!
Once you’ve got retention down, you can
start thinking about growing your membership. Outside of
membership drives, the key to membership growth is
promotion and communication. This might look like:
- Clearly articulating membership benefits
- Measuring the impact driven by unrestricted membership dues
- Encouraging word-of-mouth promotions
- Collecting testimonials
- Multi-channel communications strategy, including social media
- Offering special or limited-time perks for new sign-ups
Stronger communications, a stabler
revenue stream, and a loyal donor base are just a few
benefits of nonprofit membership programs.
But
the real benefits of a membership program are to your
members! A great membership program is customized,
adaptable, and bears member experience in mind.
Read more
on nonprofit membership programs to make sure your program
is the best it can be.
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR

Content Marketing Manager
Sonia Urlando is the Content Marketing
Manager at Personify for the
WildApricot and
MemberClicks
brands. In the content she creates, she is passionate
about putting people at the heart of the story.
Keep Up To Date With DipJar
Be the first to know about solution updates and receive fundraising tips before everyone else. Subscribe to our newsletter!
.jpg)