There are many challenges involved in demonstrating the ROI of member education, from aligning training with organisational objectives, tracking and measuring the right data, to communicating the value of education programs to association leaders.
I recently sat down with Richard Gott, Chair of the Memberwise network to discuss how to demonstrate the ROI of member education to your association, and gain buy-in from a wide range of stakeholders. If you missed the live webinar, you can catch it on-demand here, and keep reading for your highlights!
Why Invest in Education?
Richard shared that 77% of his audience already provide online learning, which is a 10% increase over the past two years. The largest jump has been in professional bodies and trade associations. Just 16% have their own in-house and bespoke systems to manage this training, down from 33% in 2022, highlighting a trend that external Learning Management Systems (LMS) are the way forward.
Why is education increasingly becoming a priority for associations? First up, demand. According to the 2023 Membership Marketing Report, 72% of members say that career advancement opportunities, such as networking, skills building and credentialing, are their top reason for joining an association in the first place. People understand that reskilling and upskilling are critical to remaining relevant in the workforce, and associations are in the perfect place to address that. As associations who have a compelling value proposition see higher membership counts and renewal rates, while those without are more likely to see declines, education cannot be ignored.
Unfortunately, knowing that education is valuable to members is not always enough to prove that it’s valuable for the business. To make that leap, you need to be able to show the ROI of your education program using relevant data.
Using the Right Data to Prove ROI
Getting the right data starts with defining what you consider to be an educated member. Ask your team some key questions to get them thinking, such as:
- What is the minimum threshold for an educated member? This could be completing specific annual professional development requirements, logging in at a regular cadence, or finishing a specific course.
- How do you know when members have gone above and beyond? Standing out in terms of the education offering could be engaging with peers in the member community, taking additional courses, or even authoring new content.
- Do some member types require more education than others? You may have role-based requirements to consider, or membership tiers that require different standards. Get clear on those definitions.
Having this clear picture of an educated member helps you to identify which data sets and metrics are most relevant when examining the success of your member education programs. It also gives your association a clear way to divide your member community and identify the impact member education is having.
Now, look to your metrics and success data, using the definition of educated to compare groups across each data set. What differences do you see between educated and non-educated members in categories relevant to your definition of an ‘educated’ member? These metrics could be renewal rates, certification stats, course completion, engagement with learning materials, and membership satisfaction, to name just a few. You should start to uncover a pattern that educated members are more likely to renew, engage, complete, or champion your association.
Getting Buy-in From the Right Stakeholders
Once you’ve gathered the data, best practice is then to limit the data you share, using only highly relevant metrics, and to tie it to key objectives. Think about what the organisational goals are for the association, and focus in on the metrics which speak to that narrative. If the organisation is looking to boost engagement, focus on satisfaction and engagement metrics. If the overarching goal of the business is to improve certifications or renewals — then that’s where the story lies and hence the metrics you need to use.
It can be tempting to share everything, but trying to communicate all the great data you’ve found can easily lead to information overload. In contrast, with limited, highly relevant data in hand you’ll be able to give your audience the succinct and impactful view of ROI they’re looking for to push organisational objectives forward with education as an enabler. This is how you’re going to get the most buy-in. No one likes drowning in data!
How to Negotiate Once You’ve Proved ROI
You’ve got the executive team’s attention — what next? Now that you’ve shown that your education program directly moves the needle on the metrics that matter to your association, the sky’s the limit! If educated customers are more likely to renew, more engaged with association content, increasingly likely to complete certifications, and more satisfied members as a whole then education has become a critical profit centre of the business. This means that it’s in everyone’s best interests to get as many members educated as possible. This means that with a strong business case proving the ROI of your member education offering you can:
- Adding headcount to the learning team, whether that’s full-time staff or freelancers
- Providing support for a specific project like an Academy or expanded Certification
- Adopting new learning technologies, platforms or tools to add efficiencies
- Securing additional expertise from subject matter experts
- Encouraging team leads to participate in internal advocacy for education programs
I’ve just scratched the surface of this fascinating conversation around proving the ROI of education for member associations. Watch the full webinar to access:
- More information on which metrics are most critical to measure success in member education
- Four top tips for keeping it simple when sharing data with your audience to prove ROI
- A live Q&A, covering working as a lean team, increasing member engagement, and building member education for the first time
Want to see how it works in action? Schedule a demo of the Thought Industries platform.
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