CREATING A DIGITAL STRATEGY FOR CHAPTERS
How many associations have a digital strategy for chapters? Hmm, I’m not seeing many raised hands out there. During the workshop, we discussed creating a digital strategy for chapters. It’d have to be in collaboration with chapters, right? Would one size fit all? Probably not. You might have to create different digital strategies for different budget and bandwidth levels.
A digital strategy could have different stages that a chapter would progress through, like a maturity model. A roadmap or maturity model would help chapter leaders (and National) know where they are on the technology spectrum and what they need to do to move forward.
For example, how are chapters doing with mobile technology? Many members live on their phones. They expect to use their phone to register for events, browse the chapter website and job board, access online education, and check out the online community. Do your chapters provide this type of mobile experience?
We heard about a chapter that was seeing a decline in early-career members, so they converted their membership application from a PDF into a mobile-responsive online form. As a result of meeting members where they are—on their phone—they had a 50% increase in new members.
Most chapters would benefit from a technology consultation with National. You could start by educating chapters about the resources and tools you provide to help them reach and engage key audiences.
The American College of Physicians is educating their chapters on leveraging all the digital channels available to them. They’re helping chapters map out which channels are most useful and design a strategy for using them.
Because the pandemic threw us into virtual platforms quickly, we could witness an acceleration of the digital transformation of chapters—and associations. However, when the crisis passes, chapters may be tempted to return to old routines and the same old way of doing things. Don’t let them ignore the progress they’ve made using technology to engage members.