Professional bodies form a quarter of the MemberWise Network. Professional bodies are aimed at individuals who work in a particular profession or job role and their fundamental aim is to support, up-skill and promote that profession. Most are registered charities but have multiple income streams and require a commercial strategy to operate effectively.

Professional bodies face many challenges. If the profession in question is one that people tend to do for a lifetime, such as a Doctor, then there is a challenge in supporting members throughout their career, tailoring the offer to meet their needs at each stage. Most professional bodies struggle to recruit younger members, hence the creation of student membership, but there are still issues with retaining them in the long term.

Many professions are in long term decline or face substantial threats such as globalisation and technology; professional bodies need to support their members in the face of unpalatable truths. Yet, they rely on their membership fees to operate and so cannot risk alienating its membership with unpopular campaigns or views. Many see it as a key responsibility to lobby Government but this can be a difficult membership benefit to articulate value.

We understand the challenges of working within a Professional Body – the challenges of recruiting new members within a younger demographic, retaining current members against a demanding CPD requirement and increasing member engagement such as event attendance and voting at AGMs. Join the MemberWise Network today and find out how we can support you throughout your membership career.

– The 10 Largest Professional Bodies in the UK…

Conference Session: Transforming Local Member Attendance Into Engaged Participation (RIBA)

Conference Session: Member Engagement Optimisation: Measure, Review, Deliver & Grow (AAT)

Trade Associations (TAs) make up half the MemberWise Network. We categorise trade associations as any organisation that represents a trade or industry rather than the individuals within a trade or industry (professional body). This means that members of trade associations can be individuals as well as organisations – they serve multiple stakeholders including employers, suppliers and supporters of the trade/industry.

Trade Associations can therefore be tiny in size as well as huge – it depends on the industry in question. Regardless of size, their fundamental objective is to represent and promote a particular trade or industry, particularly to Government and other stakeholders. They will also work closely with sector skills councils, qualification bodies and regulatory bodies to ensure training and development is fit for purpose.

Because of their varied remit, TAs experience many challenges. A trade or industry in decline or threatened in some way creates a need for TAs to support their members effectively through this change. Because members represent a variety of stakeholders, TAs may have to balance conflicting needs and opinions between its own member groups.

We understand the challenges of working within the Trade Association space – the challenges of recruiting new members against a need to attract a younger demographic, retaining current members against a challenging and varied Member Value Proposition and increasing member engagement such as event attendance and voting at AGMs. Join the MemberWise Network today and find out how we can support you throughout your membership career.

Conference session: How to use Advertorial and Sponsored Digital Content to Drive Income (Association of British Insurers)

Conference session: Delivering meaningful impact to your members: Fighting Crime in the Sector (UK Finance)

Consumer Bodies are best described as organisations that have a membership scheme that revolves around a social activity such as Girl Guiding, a leisure activity such as caravanning or a non-work interest such as History.

Many of these organisations will have multiple income streams alongside membership but have a charitable aim at their heart, namely to maintain and secure the future for a movement or social cause or leisure activity. Members are individuals that have an interest in the activity or take part themselves and the fee is essentially a donation towards the cause in exchange for basic membership benefits.

We understand the challenges of working within Consumer Bodies – the challenges of recruiting new members against in busy and varied marketplace for social interests and activities, retaining current members against the challenge of changes in lifestyle and increasing member engagement such as member up-spend and event attendance. Join the MemberWise Network today and find out how we can support you throughout your membership career.

Conference session: Putting Stories at the Heart of Member Engagement (Royal Horticultural Society)

Conference session: Introducing CRM: the true costs of the journey (GirlGuiding UK)

Unions have the primary aim of representing their members, usually within a particular trade or sector. This segment also includes the National Union of Students (NUS).

Trade unions are reporting their lowest membership levels in decades and many are struggling to recruit new members. Most unions have a charitable aim even though many are set up to lobby Government and membership fees do not necessarily reflect the membership benefits gained. Some unions are more affected by political changes than others as some occupy the private sector rather than the public sector.

We understand the challenges of working within Unions – the challenges of recruiting new members against an ever-younger demographic, retaining current members against the challenge of articulating a clear Member Value Proposition (MVP) and increasing member engagement such as volunteering and voting at AGMs. Join the MemberWise Network today and find out how we can support you throughout your membership career.

Conference session: Providing Enhanced Member Engagement at a Local Level (UNISON)

Conference session: Going Beyond Delivering ‘Another Member App’ (BMA)

Donation Based Charities are those organisations that are ‘traditional’ charities in the sense of fundraising for a worthy cause whether it be cancer research, animal welfare, an art gallery or environmental action. Members are individuals and the scheme is offered as another fundraising income stream amongst others.

These organisations usually have small budgets and need to keep costs low so that any profit is donated to the cause or beneficiaries. Membership fees are usually low and offer low-cost membership benefits, usually regular member communications about the work of the charity. A major challenge for this sector is understanding that membership is not a donation – members expect something in return for their fee. In many cases, membership schemes do not break even and are consequently seen as a way of engaging members for other up-spend or donation activities such as legacies, event attendance or merchandise.

We understand the challenges of working within Donation Based Charities – the challenges of recruiting new members against a busy and varied marketplace of causes to support, retaining current members against the challenge of increasing costs of servicing Life Members and increasing member engagement such as member up-spend and event attendance. Join the MemberWise Network today and find out how we can support you throughout your membership career.

Conference session: How The National Trust Shifted from Volume to Value (The National Trust)

Conference session: Thinking Outside the Bucket for Engagement (The Woodland Trust)

The Private Members’ Club (PMC) space is a unique one. The concept of private clubs is an old one (the oldest dates from 1693) and has tradition at its heart. This is proving a challenge in the 21st century; to keep up-to-date with a younger demographic and remain relevant.

A new generation of PMCs have been emerging over the last 5 years which are targeted at those who need a business space during the day and a social environment at night. Most PMCs have a commercial remit as well as a charitable one – there is usually a venue hire income stream as well as an on-site restaurant; there may even be on-site bedrooms.

We understand the challenges of working within the PMC space – the challenges of recruiting new members against limited membership criteria, retaining current members against an ageing membership and increasing member engagement such as event attendance and member spend. Join the MemberWise Network today and find out how we can support you throughout your membership career.

Conference session: How to Maximise Social Change through your Membership Community (House of St Barnabas)

This segment comprises a variety of organisations such as private sector golf clubs and gym chains; public sector services such as leisure centres and donation based organisations such as national ‘British Sport’ charities. Because of this, the segment is unique, but all have sport and activity at their heart. Their principle aim is to enable people to play a particular sport or undertake physical activity, whether for profit or for health!

This is a segment not without challenges. Golf clubs are struggling to appeal to a younger (and female!) demographic and gym chains are being threatened by the model of ‘pay as you go’ rather than charging expensive monthly membership fees. Leisure centres are being threatened with closure as public spending is reduced or withdrawn. British sport saw much success with the 2012 London Olympics and is preparing for the 2022 Commonwealth Games – as a result, many sports have seen their funding from Government increase but they are still under fundraising pressure.

We understand the challenges of working within sports bodies and organisations – the challenges of adopting a commercial approach alongside active fundraising campaigns and sponsorship; of recruiting new members from previously untargeted demographics and of retaining current members when competitors are offering a better deal. Join the MemberWise Network today and find out how we can support you throughout your membership career.

Conference session: Testing the Waters: How the RYA is Navigating Digital Personalisation (RYA)

Conference session: Recruiting 46,500 Members in a Challenging 18 Months: Our Story (British Canoeing)

Business Associations promote the business interests of its members: whether on a national level (e.g. UK-China Business Council) local level (e.g. a chamber of commerce) or for a size segment (e.g. Federation of Small Businesses). These organisations tend to be registered charities but also have a commercial remit.

Their key challenge is to add value to their members – what can being a member deliver that the member could not achieve themselves? Facilitation and promotion are at the heart of the member offer and a key benefit of membership is usually attendance at networking events. Members are organisations rather than individuals which can prove a challenge in itself – in reality, only certain individuals at any member organisation will engage with their membership body.

We understand the challenges of working within Business Associations – the challenges of recruiting new members against a challenging economic climate, retaining current members against a difficult-to-articulate Member Value Proposition and increasing member engagement such as event attendance to networking events. Join the MemberWise Network today and find out how we can support you throughout your membership career.

Conference session: Why TRUST should be the Lynchpin of Your Strategy (Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce)

Conference session: Taking a Strategic Approach to Digital and Avoiding Distractions (Federation of Small Businesses)

Commercial Subscription Organisations (CSOs) are best described as private sector businesses that have created a membership subscription package around a key product or services. It may be a membership scheme operated by one business such as Times+ (the membership scheme for The Times newspaper subscribers) or by multiple businesses such as TasteCard (a membership scheme offering discounts across a number of restaurants).

Their principle aim is to add value around a key offer by packaging additional benefits together and charging a fee, usually monthly. Members are individuals and CSOs aim to encourage repeat purchasing by promoting the additional benefits of membership such as events or discounts. Maximising profit and maintaining a strong return on investment are crucial to this sector.

We understand the challenges of working within CSOs – the challenges of recruiting new members against a compelling competitor offer, retaining current members against the challenge of moving members across to direct debit payments and increasing member engagement such as member up-spend and event attendance. Join the MemberWise Network today and find out how we can support you throughout your membership career.

Conference session: Lessons from The Guardian’s Digital Membership Scheme (The Guardian)

The Loyalty and Reward Programme Segment is not new although it is growing rapidly. This segment is made up of private sector businesses, usually with retail at their heart. Their aim is to encourage their members to patronise their business over their competitors and to reward them for this loyalty. Examples are varied and include British Airways (Executive Club), Tesco (ClubCard) and The Individual Restaurants Chain (Club Individual) although there are hundreds to choose from.

Members are individuals and some schemes may contain millions of members. The primary objective is to increase purchasing spend from its members and secure repeat business which will outweigh the costs of any benefits rewarded. This is the first segment to undertake meaningful member engagement scoring (recency, frequency and value) and to use the data that it holds on its members/customers to tailor and personalise its member benefits and communications.

We understand the challenges of working within the Loyalty and Reward Scheme space – the challenges of recruiting new members against a compelling competitor offer, retaining current members against changing lifestyle needs and increasing member engagement such as member up-spend and maintaining clean, up-to-date member data. Join the MemberWise Network today and find out how we can support you throughout your membership career.

Political parties are an interesting segment within the membership sector. Membership fees raise funds to promote the work of a particular party and members are likely to be individuals who align with its ideology. There are few organisations in this segment but most have large numbers of members that run into the hundreds of thousands.

Member engagement can be a big challenge in this segment. Members are not only expected to donate funds; they are also expected to vote in elections for party leaders and representatives as well as volunteer their time in activities such as leafleting and door-stepping.

We understand the challenges of working within a Political Party – the challenges of recruiting new members within a younger, apathetic demographic, retaining current members against a disruptive and opinionated political climate and increasing member engagement such as creating effective and clear member communications that motivate them to action. Join the MemberWise Network today and find out how we can support you throughout your membership career.

Conference session: The Race to 130,000: Becoming Britain’s 2nd Biggest Political Party (Liberal Democrats)