Attracting the Younger Crowd
Updated: Mar. 22, 2024 | Categories: Member Communications, Membership, Meetings/Events
Association boards from around the country are wondering the same thing - how do we attract and retain younger members into our organization? It's a great question.
If you take some time to look at your membership, you may discover you're disproportionately made up of Baby Boomers and Gen Xers with only a few millennials strewn in here and there.
Having a diverse membership-base is important for fresh perspectives and ideas. It is also essential to have younger members become familiar with the association so they can later serve in leadership roles such as board or a committee member.
Review Your Prospective Member Promotions
The majority of associations will automatically go towards promotional outreach to attract younger members. This means you have to go out and make your pitch to a younger crowd in a way that captivates their attention.
However, simply blitzing video and social media content out to the younger potential members you're hoping to attract might not give you the results that you're looking for.
Spending ad dollars on Instagram won’t do any good if your audience spends more time on Twitter. Conduct some research to find out what social platforms your target demographic is using, and place the ads where you can get the most value.
Take a look at your public events
In addition to your promotional efforts, take a look at the types of events your organization holds.
Tailoring your conferences around the preferred learning styles of younger audiences - e.g., emphasizing an interactive give-and-take - can make your association much more appealing and increase the likelihood that you'll get the right kind of attendance (and prospective members). Also, after you found the channels your audience finds most appealing, promote the event there as well.
Get Your Current Millennials Involved
Appointing your younger members to a specific committee can also ensure that your outreach efforts stay on track and remain appealing to the audience that you're trying to win over. A committee, for instance, might advise tenured members to take more advantage of their association management software’s online event registrations and digital payments.
Attracting the younger crowd to your association may take some shifts and changes in your current promotional techniques. However, you’ll find the new ideas and energy to be beneficial to your organization.
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