Group Memberships July 20 2006 Group Memberships Idea

Group Memberships July 20, 2006

Group Memberships Idea Members join as a group and receive a discount Goal Increase membership without hurting revenue Incentives Reduced costs and peer pressure

Key Questions Decision variables • Group rules: – Any restrictions? – How sign up? • Discount policy: – On what? – How much? Data • Group demographics: – How large? – Ratio new / existing? • Price sensitivity: – New members? – Existing members?

Anecdotal Data • Informal survey of academic and practice colleagues – Wide range of potential group sizes (3 to 100’s) – Current participation moderate (25% to 75%) – Low price sensitivity (≥ 50% discount on membership dues, heavy discount on practice conference) • ACORD survey of academic department heads – Reaction was unfavorable • Opinions of membership committee members

A Simple Break-Even Model

The Devil is In the Details • If one check per organization: – – How can grant money be used? Risk losing entire group if lead departs? Can new members join after the fact? Not allowed by some schools (SMU) • If individuals enroll with a group #: – How know final group size? – How enforce restrictions? – Do we allows refunds? • How construct the discount policy? – Same for all member types? – Does it include full benefits? – Is there an increasing discount schedule?

Benchmarking of Other Societies Of the 25 societies investigated: – Only 1 offers a generic group discount • $10 application fee waived if ≥ 15 join as one transaction – 11 offer corporate memberships • Emphasis on visibility for the company and revenue for the society – 5 offer academic memberships • Emphasis on full set of publications • Often provide free student memberships – Many of these programs are highly customized

Recommendation • A generic group membership program appears risky • Consider more tailored alternatives: – Tell-a-friend program – Corporate membership – Customized group membership