1. A Different State of Grace: Best Practices for Handling Grace Periods and Membership Renewals blog.memberclicks.com 2. Membership renewal is KEY! 3. But requires more effort on your associations part (and chasing members down for money is never fun). 4. Wed love to share a few best practices that will likely increase your renewal rates 5. Best Practice #1: Begin your Efforts Early 6. Launch an email campaign 3 months out to maximize renewal potential. 7. Associations that start their renewal efforts three or more months prior to expiration date are significantly more likely to have an 80% or higher renewal rate. Reported by Marketing General Incorporated (MGI) 8. Say what? Yes, you read that statistic correctly. 80% or higher renewal rate. 9. Best Practice #2: Make the Dues Renewal Process Easy 10. If youre using paper form renewals, provide members with a pre-addressed envelope to simplify the return process. 11. An even easier way to manage dues is by using an Association Management System or AMS. An AMS can automatically send out reminder emails and pre-populate online renewal fields with info from the year before. 12. Let an AMS do the dirty work for you! 13. Best Practice #3: Take the Pain Out of Payment 14. Life can get busy 15. Offer a grace period of 2-3 months before you take away their member benefits. 16. Thats it! Now apply these best practices to your next membership renewal campaign. 17. Want more? Good, we have a guide on member retention! Keep going 18. Dont let them get away! Click here to get your hands on the retention guide. A new member joins your association. At first, he or she is active reaching out to others, participating in events, and attending local meetings. But after a while, you stop seeing that member, and sooner or later, their dues disappear too. For many associations, this scenario is common. But while some member lapses are simply unavoidable, many can be prevented with just a few simple steps. In our guide to member retention, you'll learn: When to begin your renewal efforts Best practices for handling grace periods What marketing channels generate the most revenue What analytics you should be paying attention to 19. For more information on MemberClicks, check out www.memberclicks.com or give us a call at 800-914-2441.