This week we introduce our new MemberWise Ambassador (Member Value), Emma Day, Membership Director at The British Horse Society.

The British Horse Society has over 112,000 members and they are supported by 145 staff with eight  FTE staff working with Emma.

We asked Emma about her key responsibilities and goals/challenges:

“I contribute to the success of the charity through developing, growing and maintaining membership of The British Horse Society, ensuring an effective operation and great service to maximise engagement and income received.”

“The biggest challenge we have is developing our proposition to appeal to more than our core market of Horse Owners. We still only represent 7% of the riders market. I am aspiring to reach the National Trusts Gift Aid penetration. 10% more to go! I am currently also rolling out projects on Euro SEPA payments and implementing PCI Pal so our member can enter their payment card details via their own telephone keypads for their security.”

Not many people set out for a career ‘in membership’ so we asked Emma how she ‘fell into membership’:

“I applied for, and was offered, Membership Officer for a Medical Health Charity. Membership was free but members had lost babies, children, family or friends. It was the membership no one would have wanted. Members poured their hearts and souls into the charity and that was it, I was hooked. Membership, a relationship that can be nurtured where both charity and member gain something beautiful.”

Emma has been involved with the network for a number of years:

“I discovered MemberWise to benchmark some statistics against others. I have been addicted to the forum ever since and regularly post for help or to help others. Our current brilliant members Legal Helpline was found with help from the forum. I love the conferences and enjoyed presenting at MEMX19 on our latest membership acquisition campaign.”

We asked Emma how she would champion the need for strong member value in her role:

“Membership value is the very bedrock of our respective offerings and ensures our members have a long and happy relationship with us. As we all brace for a deep recession, the importance of member value will become even more important. I hope to be able to focus on and share best practice and help remind the whole network of its importance and relevance from how we measure it to how we communicate, deliver and reap the benefits of it.”

Finally, we asked Emma something we would never have guessed about her. She responded:

“I once won a competition and appeared on the Campbell’s Tomato Soup can with my very own chilli recipe. I was flown to Philadelphia and New York for a VIP trip and Campbell’s cook off. I’ve been trying to win something else ever since.”

We welcome Emma on board as MemberWise Ambassador (Member Value) and we look forward to championing the critical task of providing members with great value in return for their annual membership fee.