August 13, 2019 – Personify, Inc. (“Personify”), the market-leading provider of technology solutions for associations, nonprofits and corporations, today released findings from its new research, Member Experience 2.0, on association professions and the future of multichannel and omnichannel engagement that was conducted in July 2019 with more than 300 members in the United States.

Key findings from the research include that:

• While members of all ages and groups value membership, 43% of survey respondents say associations seem out of touch and nearly a third do not understand the benefits.
• Respondents expressed a preference for digital engagement channels with younger members more likely to choose digital channels over print (73% for Gen Z, 64% of Millennials).
• Across all groups, members report that email is the best way to reach them with a large majority (82%) of those surveyed ranking email first or second.
• Nearly half of all members surveyed report that public social media sites are the worst way to engage and least effective.
• The phone was ranked as #1 and #2 as the channel of choice by 46% of those surveyed. Overall, 45% of members told us they “liked” or “loved” receiving a phone call from their association, with 51% showing the same level of appreciation for text messages.
• A majority of all members surveyed (52%) indicated events were “very valuable” in making them feel engaged with their association. This number was significantly higher with African-American members reporting events were valuable in terms of engagement (75%, +23 percentage points higher than average), and LGBTQ members sharing the same sentiment (62%).

An upcoming webinar, hosted by Personify will dive deeper into the findings of this research and share how association leaders can apply these findings to their organizations.

In addition to the new research, Personify announced the recent release of its Wild Apricot member management software at the 2019 ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition conference. The latest version introduces new features and an updated look and feel for the user interface.

Recognized by Capterra as the leader in member management software for the past six years, the latest additions to the Wild Apricot solution will help streamline the member experience and include two new payment features for Wild Apricot Payments allowing users to activate recurring donations and simplify the checkout process. Additionally, Wild Apricot users will experience a new modernized look that is unified under the Personify product portfolio.

“Helping organizations better connect and engage with members is at the core of what we do,” says Eric Thurston, President and CEO of Personify. “We’re proud to bring new features to the Wild Apricot solution to help associations and nonprofits provide a seamless user experience, and we continue to innovate, creating tools designed to meet the needs of today’s organizations.”

Association professionals experienced Personify’s new capabilities and learned about the Member Experience 2.0 research during the 2019 ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition that took place August 10-13 in Columbus, Ohio.

To learn more about Personify’s solutions for associations, charities and corporations, visit, www.personifycorp.com.

About Personify

Personify is the market-leading Constituent Management and Engagement (CME) platform that empowers organizations to better engage their constituents, maximize revenue and optimize operations. For over 20 years, Personify has served as the technology foundation for a diverse group of organizations including associations, nonprofits, event professionals, YMCAs and JCCs. For more information, visit https://personifycorp.com/

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I, sadly, was not blessed with this talent.

The good news is that being on the shy side can be overcome. It helps to be naturally curious about people and why they do what they do. Nonprofits, with their strong focus on building relationships between constituents and between their organization and the community, have this in abundance. But approaching conversations with a genuine interest builds a natural rapport that makes talking to anyone – even a complete stranger – easier.

What else helps? Being prepared.

Over the last several weeks I’ve done more talking than I have in a long time, to people I’ve never met about things in which I’m admittedly not an expert. I was curious to hear their perspective, but I also took the step of preparing with a level of depth and consistency that gave Amanda the Introvert the confidence to approach these conversations with gusto. I’ve come away from each reenergized and excited to share what I learned with others.

There’s no shortage of advice suggesting that you reach out and gather member feedback on a regular cadence. With time in short supply, nonprofits have turned to digital means to gather the information in bulk. Surveys remain a popular and important option for getting a volume of responses and a statistically significant sample to help drive smart decisions (check this blog post for tips on getting the most from member surveys).

Yet it’s one-on-one conversations and interviews that give us real insight into what constituents think. Member feedback can illuminate things we hadn’t considered, tell us what people feel is important or to help us recognize, or validate, areas ripe for improvement. Member feedback is valuable when:

• You’re looking for inspiration. Maybe you want to answer the big picture questions, revisit your brand, grow in new ways.
• You want to understand behavior. Have members who aren’t renewing? A survey will tell you some things, but a phone call may tell you more.
• You need to answer a specific question. Are you getting ready to increase dues by a certain amount? Are you adding or changing a feature on your community? Asking a yes or no question is helpful but getting the why behind the answer is often more informative.

4 Tips to Improve Your Member Feedback Efforts

Interviews create opportunities for the exchange of information, but effective interviews are about listening. Look at the interview as a research opportunity where you’re looking to learn as much as you can. While the information from an interview can drive a sale – whether it’s improving the membership process, making it easier to register for event, donate to a cause – but the primary goal of your conversations shouldn’t be measured in term of dollars and cents.

Get the most from interviews by:

1. Identifying (and documenting) your goal

What do you want to learn? If you’re working as part of a broader team, what do they want to learn?

Being crisp and specific about what you’re hoping to glean from the conversation is paramount to driving the kinds of insights you’re looking for. Starting with a goal that’s too broad, e.g. “learn about members” is setting yourself up for failure because the questions will lack focus and consistency. A clear, concise goal related to something more specific can not only direct how you conduct the interview but ensure you have consensus among stakeholders looking to benefit from your learnings.

2. Get comfortable (both of you).

Are you nervous? The chances are good that the person at the other end of the conversation may be too. Opening up to a complete stranger about things that someone may consider personal is an awkward process. People are more likely to talk honestly if they feel relaxed, trust the interviewer and are comfortable with the process.

Minimize any first date-style awkwardness by:

• Establishing some sort of contact before the interview. Reach out via video chat or phone call – at the very least and send a quick email reminding them of the time scheduled for your conversation and thanking them for their time!
• Setting expectations up front by starting the interview with a quick explanation of why you’re talking and how any information you gather will be used.
• Making sure your interview subject feels heard. Take notes, make eye contact. Acknowledge their statements with simple phrases like “That’s helpful, thank you.” This is not the time to multitask.
• Using your manners! Let anyone you’re interviewing finish their thoughts – don’t interrupt! Please and thank you also go a long way so use them often. And don’t rush. Gently slowing your speech has a calming effect that suggests you’re relaxed and have time to listen.
• Being authentic, and not faking interest. Acting can make you appear disingenuous. It is better to be yourself; don’t say something if you don’t genuinely feel it.
• Starting with easy questions that will help you get the ball rolling and build momentum in your conversation.

3. Prepare questions before the interview.

Speaking of questions, bring to your interview a list of questions you want answered as part of the member feedback exercise. Documenting your questions in advance helps you set expectations with your internal stakeholders, gives you the chance to write clearer questions than you might in the moment and ensures you don’t forget what you were looking to learn.

When writing your questions, be sure to:

• Prepare for different responses. You don’t know what you don’t know. However, anticipating answers to the best of your ability can help you prepare. What would you say if your interviewee didn’t have a response for your question? What follow-ups might you ask to get a valuable answer?
• Limit your questions to just one thing. Instead of “Do you use social media and, if so, which sites do you use?” try, “How often do you check your social media?” and then follow up with “Which sites do you use most frequently?”
• Avoid leading questions. Your interview is designed to help you learn about your constituents. Don’t frame your questions with assumptions about what they may or may not think. For example, a question like “Why did you like our 2018 annual conference so much?” suggests the constituent enjoyed the conference. Another approach would be, “Why did you attend the annual conference last year?”
• Keep it clear. Vague questions can be difficult to understand and risk confusing participants, making them uncomfortable or feeling guilty because they don’t understand what you mean.
• Prepare more questions than you have time for. Some interviewees give long answers while others respond at a rapid clip, with brief snippets of detail. Prepare for both scenarios by ensuring you have the right number of questions to deliver the same amount of information.

4. Practice

Self-proclaimed King of All Media Howard Stern once said, “In my real life, I have a hard time having a conversation with anybody.” Host of NPR’s Fresh Air Terry Gross has shared, “I try not to equate (an) interview with real life.” Although both of them sometimes struggle – in very different ways, with very different styles – with the intimacy of an interview, they’ve become the best in getting stories from their subjects the hard way: with practice.

Set yourself up for success by spending some time with your questions. While it may feel foolish, read them out loud. Daydream about the conversation and think about where it may go – where you want it to go. You’ll come away feeling more prepared and will exude a level of professionalism your constituents will appreciate.

Conclusion

Understanding member feedback is key. While big-scale efforts like surveys have their place, interviews can be a quick and easy way to compliment macro-level data with depth and qualitative insight. An approach that includes both allows you to develop an accurate, thorough sense of your constituents and leaves your organization with higher feeling of confidence with the information you collect.

The post What’s the Story? 4 Tips for Eliciting Member Feedback appeared first on Personify.

If you’re an event organizer, you’re often a jack (or jill) of all trades. You spend countless hours working to deliver a compelling lineup of speakers and sessions, develop professional development opportunities to help attendees grow in their careers and make new connections, and recruit event exhibitors and sponsors that will appeal to attendees. But let’s face it—we couldn’t host a successful conference without the organizations that participate in our event including exhibitors, attendees, speakers, sponsors and more.

If you’re looking to build long-term relationships with the organizations that invest time and resources at your events (and I’m guessing that you do), it’s critical to recognize and appreciate their contribution and show the value that is associated with being part of your event. We’re sharing four ways that you can recognize event exhibitors in person, online and via mobile and social, and demonstrate value:

1. Create Dedicated Activities for Event Exhibitors

Your partners and vendors likely have many options to invest their limited resources (both their marketing dollars and their staff’s time). To make sure that you’re creating an experience where exhibitors and sponsors feel valued, create dedicated activities to help them connect with attendees and prove the value of your conference.

This can include an exhibitor happy hour and gamification of the expo floor where attendees compete to visit different exhibitors for prizes and raffle drawings. You could also host an exhibitor spotlight where companies promote their solutions and product offerings over the lunch hour. Another option is to host a get together aimed at new attendees and sponsors to help first timers make new friends and exchange ideas.

2. Drive Traffic for Event Exhibitors via Website, Social Channels and Community

When Personify exhibits at a conference, the reason that we do it is because we want access to the audiences that the organization serves and to be able to show attendees the unique value that we can provide to solve a challenge or meet a goal. Similarly, with your exhibitors, you can increase the ROI of the exhibitor experience by creating high visibility for their organization.

Make sure that your exhibitors and sponsors are featured prominently on your organization’s website with an interactive floor plan and a link to more information about the exhibiting organization. Create space in the editorial calendar for your social media plan and in your online community to highlight exhibitors that will be at your upcoming conference. And, make sure to backlink to the exhibitor’s website to drive up their SEO value.

Before, during and after PersoniFest, our social media team pushed out dedicated social and community posts for our sponsors and exhibitors to show our appreciation for taking part in our annual conference.

3. Celebrate Their Success with Your Constituents

In addition to providing a time and space in the agenda for folks to visit the expo hall, consider creating an awards program or an appreciation dinner to highlight constituents’ success stories. This not only allows your members, donors and volunteers to learn from their industry peers, but also provides an outlet for exhibitors and sponsors to showcase their solutions and partnership opportunities with your organization.

For example, we created the Persi Awards at PersoniFest to highlight client success stories from the previous year. When possible, we included mentions of Personify’s partners and exhibitors that worked with our clients to help them reach their goals.

One of the 2019 Persi Award winners is our client the Texas Hospital Association who undertook a massive effort to move their billing and collection processes in house. We shared, both onstage during the keynote and afterwards in the blog post recap, how our partner and Personify exhibitor Intellidata played a crucial part in their billing transformation.

4. Directly Connect Event Exhibitors with Attendees

It’s a common issue that I have experience when attending a conference. I’m looking for a technology tool that can help me do X, Y and Z but I’m not sure which exhibitors offer that type of solution and so I spend time wandering around the expo hall hoping to come across a vendor that meets my needs.

There’s a better way. Intelligent matchmaking enables an attendee to connect face-to-face with experts that have a solution for a specific pain point or challenge in their organization. As part of your pre-show strategy, attendees can share the types of solutions they’re looking for on the expo floor and exhibitors can respond before or during the conference about how their solutions can help.

While this list includes a few ways to improve your exhibitors’ experience, it’s certainly not an exhaustive list. If you’re looking to revamp your exhibitor marketplace at your annual conference or tradeshow, learn more about our solutions for event professionals.

The post 4 Ways to Recognize and Create Value for Your Event Exhibitors appeared first on Personify.

This afternoon I found myself staring at a blank screen with no idea what I wanted to write.

I’d committed (with the best of intentions) to providing our Personify communications team with a post for the blog but didn’t specify what I would be writing about. Now the proverbial chickens had come home to roost. What did I have to work with? A deadline and surprisingly little in the way of ideas.

That’s a problem.

The dark corner of the bright spot

As the saying goes, content is king. Members and constituents of all stripes value the information provided by their organization across a growing number of channels. As a key strategy in supporting acquisition, driving engagement and keeping satisfaction (and retention) numbers high, a continuous flow of content that is both valuable and new has never been more important. While not a new idea, the momentum behind content marketing shows no signs of slowing down, with marketers turning to blogging, podcasting, vlogging, live video, and even Snapchat to share their organization’s message in a way that’s valuable, relevant and informative.

Sounds great, right? Constituents enjoy unparalleled access to information and opportunities for learning while organizations have endless chances to reinforce their value.

Good content comes from somewhere, a person gathering their thoughts, researching a topic and putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) in order to share what they’ve discovered with a broader audience. That process is sparked by an idea, a question or perhaps a moment of inspiration.

What happens when that spark never happens? What happens when you need to feed a hungry content machine but you’re fresh out of snacks to share?

Some writers argue that “writer’s block” exists only as an excuse, designed to give permission to the inevitable human tendencies towards procrastination but as someone in the trenches I’m here to tell you the struggle is real. Perhaps you’re facing the pressure of deadlines, are afraid of introducing ideas that may be controversial or don’t want to publish anything less than perfect, so you don’t even bother starting.

When it comes to surmounting writer’s block, there’s no shortage of advice out there:

• Exercise to get the blood flowing
• Create a routine to help your mind find focus when it’s time to write
• Eliminate distractions and create a comfortable writing space
• Listen to music you love or try listening to music completely outside your comfort zone
• Read a book or inspirational quotes
• Spend time talking to a friend or loved one

The challenge is that writing is an art, not a science. There’s no magic formula that works for every person, every time. I’ve been confronted with writer’s blocks a handful of times over the course of my career and every victory looked different. More often than not, I’ve looked to author Charles Bukowski’s advice, “Writing about a writer’s block is better than not writing at all.”

Breaking through

Being proactive in taking the first step is important but so too is the realization that as a nonprofit, you benefit from having a wealth of subjects at your disposal. Here are three I’d recommend to anyone looking for a place to start:

Crowdsource inspiration from your staff…and your members

Ask a question. Lurk in one of the forums in your online community. Talk to your staff and see what’s top of mind. By tapping into the perspective of others you can reinvigorate your content with ideas you may not have previously considered. As an added bonus, you know the content you’re pulling together already has appeal to your constituents and is aligned with their interests.

Newsjack

(Note: This is not the movie from the ‘90’s. That was “New Jack City.”)

Something newsworthy dominating talk around the water-cooler in your office? Try turning it into content. See how it impacts your organization, ask members via your social media channels for quick thoughts or spin up a poll to gauge their reaction on a timely topic.

See what the experts say

Do you have favorite blogs? Publications? They may relate to your organization’s mission or be more general, but the chances are good they may publish the latest in industry news and offer both opinionated and unique commentary on each subject. Does your organization’s point of view align? Differ? How can your constituents incorporate this information into their role, both as a member but with regards to their profession? What does this mean to them?

Whether you’re a content creation team of one or 100, you’re bound to hit a wall at some point and that’s OK but movement is critical. Put one foot in front of the other. Ask for help, from constituents, look for commonalities with what’s in the headlines, draw inspiration from other industry experts. Once you start heading in a direction – any direction – you’ll find it’s easy to pick up speed. Before you know it, you’ll be writing. You may have even found that you’ve written an entire blog post.

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