Building Membership through Retention Building Membership by Increasing

Building Membership through Retention Building Membership by Increasing Retention

Building Membership through Retention Strategic Plan for Sustained Membership Growth Priority #5 – Membership Recruiting and Retention Tactic 1 a. Develop a retention strategy at every level of the organization. RETENTION MUST BE THE FIRST PRIORITY TO INCREASE OUR MEMBERSHIP. Have We Developed a Retention Strategy at the National Level?

Building Membership through Retention • Do We Have Any Awards that Recognize Excellence in Retention? NO, the awards manual is bare in that area • Do We Know Which Departments are Best at Retention? NO, DMS Complicates and Confuses that Calculation • Can We Determine Which Posts are Best at Retention? Up Until This Year, NO! Work by Joe Gallagher and the IT Division Lets Us Know Now

Building Membership through Retention • Accurately Measuring Retention at the Post Level Requires 1. Accounting for Death Loss 2. Accounting for Loss by Transfer to Another Post 3. After Death Loss and Transfer, Determining Which of Previous Year’s Members have Renewed • Removes any Complication due to DMS Acquisition or Transfer • Headquarters Post is not Included, Only Traditional Posts Program Capability Developed by Joe and Staff Allow Determination of Retention Post by Post

Building Membership through Retention • Method Used to Determine Post Retention for 2018 Membership Year • • Identify 2017 Members in Post by Membership ID Number Remove Those Members Transferred to Post Everlasting Through Death Remove Those Members who Transferred to Another Traditional Post Compare Membership IDs from the Remaining 2017 Members with Those that Have Renewed for 2018 to Determine Renewal Percentage. • Example • Post ABC has Enrolled 153 Members for 2017 • Of Those 153, 8 Have Been Reported Deceased and 2 have transferred to other Posts, leaving 143. • Of those 143 members, 127 have renewed at this date for a renewal percentage of 88. 81% as of the reporting date.

Building Membership through Retention • Calculation Determining Retention Percentage as of February 17, 2017 • • 1, 260 Posts with 100% Retention 149 Posts Between 98% and 100% Retention 511 Posts Between 96% and 98% Retention 611 Posts Between 94% and 96% Retention 801 Posts Between 92% and 94% Retention 893 Posts Between 90% and 92% Retention 5, 048 Posts Between 80% and 90% Retention 3, 724 Posts Below 80% Retention 4, 225 Posts Between 90% and 100% Retention

Building Membership through Retention • Calculation Determining Retention Percentage as of January 2, 2018 • • • 1, 038 Posts with 100% Retention 73 Posts Between 98% and 100% Retention 250 Posts Between 96% and 98% Retention 309 Posts Between 94% and 96% Retention 388 Posts Between 92% and 94% Retention 537 Posts Between 90% and 92% Retention 3, 740 Posts Between 80% and 90% Retention 3, 638 Posts Between 70% and 80% Retention 2, 815 Below 70% Retention 2, 595 Posts Between 90% and 100% Retention

Building Membership through Retention • Retention Summary from Traditional Posts 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Previous Year’s Final Death Loss Transfers Current Membership Retention Rate 2/4/2017 1, 674, 680 55, 077 21, 080 1, 326, 764 80. 48% 1/2/2018 1, 758, 790 53, 906 33, 004 1, 277, 694 74. 52% • Retention Percentage Calculated Based Only on Traditional Posts (Current Membership + Transfer) / Previous Final X 100 • Data from 2/4/2017 may not include poorest performing posts (less than 50% retention)

Building Membership through Retention WHAT IF… We Finish the Year at 90% Retention? That would mean Traditional Membership of 1, 582911 End the Year at 92. 5% Retention? 1, 626, 881

Building Membership through Retention • Can We Incentivize Posts to Pay More Attention to Retention? • We Could Create a Streamer for the Post Colors or a Plaque for any Post that Exceeds a Given Retention Rate. • QUESTION – What is the Goal Retention Rate? Does it Change with Post Size? • DRAWBACK - Have many small posts at 100% - 388 posts at 100% retention that have less than 15 members ØIs that a problem? – A member being retained is a member being retained. • QUESTION - Do many of the smaller posts use their colors that much or have a post home to display a plaque? Would this reward be effective? • ADVANTAGE - This Scheme Directly Recognizes the Members that are Doing the Work.

Building Membership through Retention • We Could Reward the Department and/or the District based on the Success of Their Posts at Achieving High Retention • Possible Rebate Schemes • Set Amount to Department/District for Each of their Posts that Meets the Goal Retention Rate • Set Amount to Department/District for each Member in the Posts that Meet the Goal Retention Rate • If We Believe that High Retention is Harder as the Post gets Bigger, Should we Create a Sliding Scale of Retention Percentage Necessary to Qualify • Need to Know Budget Implications • ADVANTAGE - This Scheme Creates an Incentive for Department and District Officers to Monitor Their Posts and Target Those That are Falling Behind.

Building Membership through Retention • Based on Iowa Data from February 4, 2017 and Setting Up a Sliding Scale of Retention Goals Based on Post Size • Retention Goals Up to 100 members: 100% 300 -400: 98. 5% 600 -700: 97% 900 -1000: 95. 5% 100 -200: 99. 5% 400 -500: 98% 700 -800: 96. 5% Over 1000: 95% 200 -300: 99% 500 -600: 97. 5% 800 -900: 96% • On February 4, 2017 Iowa had 103 Posts that met the Criteria • 100 Posts in the smallest category, 1 in each of the 100 -200, 200 -300 and 400 -500 categories. • Rebate Based on Number of Qualifying Posts - $10 per Post Equals $1, 030 in Iowa which Projects to $22, 750 Nationwide. • Rebate Based on Members in the Qualifying Posts - $0. 50 per Member Equals $1, 790 in Iowa. Projection is Harder but $39, 500 Nationwide is Reasonable.

Building Membership through Retention • Questions to Be Answered • Do We Want to Create An Award Based on Excellence in Retention? • If the Answer is NO, Then We Need to Modify the Strategic Plan • If the Answer is YES, Then We Need to • Define What We Mean by Excellence in Retention • Decide at Which Level to Create the Award-Department, District, Post or all Three • Decide the Amount of Resources to Devote to This Incentive and Whether That Will be New Money or funds Diverted from Another Program

Building Membership through Retention • Things We can Do Immediately at Little to No Cost • Use Retention Calculation Tool to Monitor Progress of Various Departments • Identify Larger Posts with High Retention – Recognize those Posts Publicly and Publicize Methods They Use • Examples As of January 2 • Largest Post at 100% Retention - Post #1 in Ohio with 220 members • Largest Post at Greater than 95% Retention – California Post #381 with 1, 154 members at 96. 81% Retention

Building Membership through Retention • Additional thoughts • Are there other places in the Plan where our committee made statements that we haven’t followed up with? • Need everyone to read the plan closely and identify other possible areas that need attention and development. • Chairman Goodman has identified work to be done in training – Priority #3 • Retention – Priority #5 • Others? ? ?

Building Membership through Retention • Membership Goal Process • Department Goals that Emphasize Growth but Do NOT Demand Growth • Membership Rewards (current) • Department Rewards are Based on Meeting Specified Percentage of Goal on Certain Dates. If Department Does Not Meet Target Percentage, No Points • Department Must Achieve Its Goal by May Target Date to be Eligible for Awards • Membership Rewards (expanded) • Department Rewards are Based on Meeting Specified Percentage of Goal on Certain Dates OR on having a Traditional Membership on the Target Date that is Larger than the Previous Year at that Date. If Neither Occurs, No Points. • Department Must Achieve Its Goal by May Target Date OR Have Traditional Membership Larger than the Previous Year’s May Target Date to be Eligible

Building Membership through Retention QUESTIONS?