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		<title><![CDATA[StarChapter Blog]]></title>
		<link>http://starchapter.com/</link>
		<description><![CDATA[]]></description>
		<language>en-us</language>
		<pubDate>Sat, 18 May 2013 09:23:25 -0400</pubDate>
		<lastBuildDate>Sat, 18 May 2013 09:23:25 -0400</lastBuildDate>
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		  <title><![CDATA[Getting to Know Your Association Data]]></title>
		 <description><![CDATA[
By now in business, you surely know making minor corrections along the way can save a lot of effort and expense over a major change down the road. For that reason, keeping an eye on important information related to your association is very beneficial.
Here are three important areas to keep track of for your association.

Event Attendance  and ndash; Has there been a decline in attendance lately? Or hopefully a big boost? Take a look at which events are attracting lots of members. If you notice high attendance at events with a learning session, perhaps that is something you will want to integrate into more meetings.
Prospects  and ndash; Prospects are the top of your sales funnel. Knowing things such as the ratio of prospect that become members help you set goals to understand how many people you need to reach to make your yearly membership goals.
Membership  and ndash; After all that hard work it took to convert prospects to members, you surely want members to stick around for a while. How long is the average member remaining within your organization?What about the overall membership of the association  and ndash; has it grown or shrunk?

Keeping track of what is going on with your membership organization allows you to adjust your strategy to grow your association. Take some time to regularly review your organization's data to allow for changes to your plans as needed.
TIP: Set a monthly reminder on your calendar to review association data.]]></description>
		  <link>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=73</link>
		  <pubDate>Thu, 09 May 2013 08:45:00 -0400</pubDate>
		  <guid>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=73</guid>
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		  <title><![CDATA[Admin Update Coming Soon]]></title>
		 <description><![CDATA[New Community Features
We have recently completed testing on the new Community features and are excited to bring you this update. Starting on Monday, April 15 you will be able to opt-in to this update through the admin area of your website. We'll be updating all StarChapter sites to use this new functionality on May 15th. Please contact support if you have any questions.
The update offers many new features including:

Support for newsletters published quarterly, monthly, weekly, or on irregular schedules
Auto-publish and auto-archive articles and announcements
Completely new Forum area
Recurring calendar events
Improved commenting on the blog and forum
Support for catgories on the blog, forum and articles
Email blog posts, forum posts, calendar events, articles and announcements
]]></description>
		  <link>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=72</link>
		  <pubDate>Thu, 11 Apr 2013 08:01:00 -0400</pubDate>
		  <guid>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=72</guid>
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		  <title><![CDATA[Tips for Keeping Your Emails Out of the Spam Folder]]></title>
		 <description><![CDATA[
You've spent time carefully crafting a valuable email to send to your organization, so the last thing you want it to do is to go directly to their spam folder. The good news is there are some guidelines you can follow to decrease the odds your newsletter is marked as junk mail.
Let's look at some things that could potentially trigger your email to be labeled as spam.
Subject Line

Don't put your email subject in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. Commonly viewed around the internet as shouting, an abundance of caps is sure to trigger a spam filter. 


Avoid the words "free" or the recipient's name in the subject line as well. But don't let these rules scare you in to leaving the subject line totally blank  and ndash; that's a spam trigger as well.

Email Body

Similar to the subject line, using terms like "free" or "guaranteed" within the email body are flags for spam filters. Don't think you're being tricky by trying to disguise words using characters (such as f*ree) - spam filters have long since caught on to that tactic.


Balance text and images. Sharing images of events and members is a great way to make your newsletter more visually pleasing, but too many images are another spam flag. A good rule of thumb is to have at least two lines of text per image.

Settings

Provide both text and HTML versions of your newsletter. In addition to helping you pass the spam filter, this is good practice in case the recipient is unable to read HTML email.


Avoid attaching a large file in a format other than PDF or image (JPG, GIF, and PNG). If you have a big file to share with everyone, consider hosting it on your server and providing a link for the recipients to download the file.

Newsletters and emails to your members and prospective members are great ways to keep them informed about your association. By following these guidelines, your messages are more likely to end up in their Inbox. ]]></description>
		  <link>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=71</link>
		  <pubDate>Wed, 10 Apr 2013 08:18:00 -0400</pubDate>
		  <guid>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=71</guid>
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		  <title><![CDATA[Event Registration]]></title>
		 <description><![CDATA[With the increased daylight and warmth spring brings, you will want to spend more time checking out prospective golf courses for that summer outing, rather than managing the details of the event.
Because your membership data is fully integrated with your events, your planning is simple.
StarChapter provides you with the ability to:

Create event registration with multiple pricing options and discounts


Accept online payments for events


Get detailed transactional and analytical reports about the event



Visit our Event Registration page for more detailed information.]]></description>
		  <link>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=70</link>
		  <pubDate>Wed, 10 Apr 2013 07:26:00 -0400</pubDate>
		  <guid>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=70</guid>
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		  <title><![CDATA[How to Find Great Speakers for Your Next Association Meeting]]></title>
		 <description><![CDATA[
When planning your membership organization meetings, there will be many predictable elements, such as introducing new members or taking votes on issues. However, you will need to come up with exciting and beneficial meeting content to fill up your agendas if you want members to attend religiously.
Hosting speakers to share information, instruct and entertain members is great way to add value to your chapter organization meetings.
So, where do you find compelling and relevant speakers? Here are some ideas.
Members from Your Chapter
Some great speakers may be right under your nose! Chapter members are typically knowledgeable about industry topics; why not invite them to share their expertise with other members?
In addition, it will give the member a chance to practice their public speaking skills, and it will allow others to get to know the speaking member more in depth.
Here are some possible topics members can present:

A relevant technical skill, such as new software
Facts about an industry news story, plus how it will impact members
A "book report" about a pertinent topic

Members of the Community
Members of the community are often more than willing to come to your meeting if they can share a bit about their business. For instance, small business owners may want to talk about their services, or a volunteer organization many want to share their cause.
When inviting community members to speak, provide a time limit, tell them about any available technology (ex. If you have a projector), and set presentation content expectations. Be sure they are able to make their presentation relevant to the membership.
Here are some ideas for whom to invite from your community:

Lawyers discussing law relevant to your industry
Tax or financial experts
Business coaches
For additional ideas, review a list of members of your local Chamber of Commerce

National Speakers Association
The National Speakers Association website (nsaspeaker.org) allows you to search for speakers based on topic and location. You will be able to come up with a list of potential speakers according to their topic of expertise or their industry.
Some of the speakers even provide videos of previous talks so you can get a sense of their style.
Ask Your Members 
If you've exhausted these resources (or even if you haven't), try asking members for their input. Conduct a survey using your membership management software to find out potential topics for presentations. In addition, some members may have connections willing to talk with your organization.
Having engaging speakers at your association meetings will help attract new members and keep existing members interested.  ]]></description>
		  <link>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=69</link>
		  <pubDate>Mon, 18 Mar 2013 08:42:00 -0400</pubDate>
		  <guid>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=69</guid>
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		  <title><![CDATA[Revenue Generating Ideas for Your Membership Association ]]></title>
		 <description><![CDATA[
As the leader of your association, you may have wonderful ideas about valuable events and training to provide for your members  and ndash; great! But no matter how exciting your plans are, you won't be able to implement them without money.
Your membership organization may already collects dues to cover some expenses, but just like in our personal lives, it always seems things cost more than anticipated. Even if you are within your budget, generating revenue for your association allows you the flexibility to add programs mid-year, take advantage of a last minute speaker, or invest in association management tools.
In addition to collecting dues, raffles and auctions are tried and true ways to generate revenue for your membership association.
Below are some fundraising events you can put together to increase your organization's revenue.
50/50 Raffle
Like the name suggests, in a 50/50 raffle 50% of the ticket sales go to a winner and 50% to the association. For example, if you sell 80 tickets for $1 each, the winner would take home $40 and the remaining $40 would be revenue for the organization.
This type of raffle is easy to administer, and doesn't require up-front investment. However, you will need to sell lots of tickets to make substantial money.
Silent Auction
A silent auction can be a fun event for your organization and allowing guests can bring in even more income.
Prizes are placed on tables with a bid sheet in front of the items. Participants write the amount they will spend for the item, and the person with the highest bid gets to take the item home.
To make this a revenue generating event, however, you will need to get the prizes donated. The association then keeps the winning bidder's payment.
Often, your local Mary Kay, Avon, and other independent sales reps will provide a prize for the exposure generated by the auction. Allow them to provide a stack of business cards next to the prize so all attendees can take home the sales person's contact information.
Big Ticket Item Raffle
A raffle with a large prize, such as an iPad or a spa day, may get more interest and buzz within your organization. If you don't want to purchase the item from your association, you can look for local or industry relevant sponsors to donate the item.
If you purchase the prize, be confident you can sell enough tickets to at least cover the cost so you do not lose any money; but of course your organization's goal is to sell as many tickets as possible.
To make your membership organization's fundraising as successful as possible, secure your prizes well in advance and take time to promote the raffle or auction prior to the event. Additionally, be sure to check with your state for any restrictions on holding raffles.]]></description>
		  <link>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=68</link>
		  <pubDate>Thu, 14 Feb 2013 11:17:00 -0500</pubDate>
		  <guid>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=68</guid>
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		  <title><![CDATA[Organize Events to Attract New Members and Boost Attendance]]></title>
		 <description><![CDATA[In just about every way you can think about it, they form the core of what your organization is all about -- public events.
Organizations are social groups; without socializing, your group is essentially just a newsletter and an idea.
Events are a core element of membership-based organizations. Mastering the art of throwing an event will go a long way towards attracting new members to your organization while having existing members excited to attend events.
Analyze Your Past Events
Before you start filling up your organization's calendar, take some time to do some research about successful events. Here are some questions to help you evaluate what makes a popular event.


What events have you held in the past that worked and attracted the most attendance?




What were the events with high attendance, high revenue, positive feedback, and high amounts of chatter and excitement?


What was it about that event that seemed to work so well?


Coming Up With Event Ideas
Get members excited about attending events by having a theme to your meeting. Wouldn't you agree attending an outing, casino night or holiday party is more enticing than calling your event "January Meeting?"
To come up with theme ideas, you can start brainstorming with topics around:


What are the hot topics in your industry right now?


Workshop/Seminar  and ndash; What skills would your membership like to gain?


What type of hobbies or other interests does your membership have, and how can you incorporate that into events? (ex: golf, wine, or attending a sporting event)


Ask members for their input on topics or themes they are interested in. (Try conducting a membership survey to gather their ideas.)


Planning Your Meetings
Now that you have solid ideas for your upcoming meetings, it is time to get them on the calendar and round out the event details.
Here are some tips to successful meeting planning:


If possible, try to hold the meeting on a standard day. For example, if the meetings are always the second Tuesday of the month, members will be able to block out time on their calendars for up to a year at a time.


Make it easy for members to register for the events. An online event registration is optimal  and ndash; no need for you to receive phone calls or emails from attendees.


Be sure to have name tags and time for members to network with each other. Use your membership management software to print name tags using the registration information.


Everyone loves food and prizes. Try to incorporate these elements in to the meetings. Don't have money in your budget for these things? Consider having a member's company sponsor the food or prizes in exchange for some free advertising on the association website or the event's agenda.


Having unique and well planned events is essential to having returning attendees and attracting new members. Taking the time to analyze past meetings, brainstorm future events and give attention to the details is necessary to growing your membership organization's event attendance.]]></description>
		  <link>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=67</link>
		  <pubDate>Wed, 06 Feb 2013 10:15:00 -0500</pubDate>
		  <guid>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=67</guid>
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		  <title><![CDATA[Your Membership Organizationâ€™s Newsletter ]]></title>
		 <description><![CDATA[How to Make it Awesome
Most membership organizations write a monthly newsletter as a way to keep in touch, but how many are doing it effectively? If you use a newsletter to communicate with your association, keep in mind the information within the newsletter needs to be relevant and engaging to the audience. But don't let the need for creating new content each month scare you away from using this extremely valuable communication tool.
Newsletter Content
Feeling stuck for what to put in your association newsletter?
Try using the following segments as a way to jumpstart your newsletter content.

Message from the President
Featured Member/Member of the Month
Summary of Previous Meeting(s)
New Members
Upcoming Meeting Schedule

Using these features regularly each month will give you a place to start to get your writing juices flowing.
Feel free to add relevant and timely articles, tips and more as desired. Photos from past events make great additions to the newsletter as well.
Don't add irrelevant items just to "fill up" the newsletter  and ndash; if information is not applicable to members, eventually they will stop reading it.
Creating Your Newsletter
There are a variety of email services which offer pre-made templates for newsletters and keep track of email addresses.
However, a better solution is using membership organization software which has an email capability. Using such an association management tool prevents you from having to maintain multiple databases or lists of members and their contact information.
Many membership organization software companies will have professional design services, and will help customize your newsletter template and add images, such as your association's logo.
Another advantage of membership management software is you can easily segment your email list, so you can create emails for specific subcommittees or board members.
Newsletter Frequency
The most common frequency for creating an association newsletter is monthly. However, you may need to send out other emails between publications, such as event invitations or member surveys. Aim to space out the emails so your organization's members are not receiving multiple emails in a short span of time. The trick is finding the perfect balance of keeping members informed in a timely manner, yet not filling up your members' inboxes.
When in doubt, ask yourself "Can this announcement go in the newsletter?" If the answer is yes, it doesn't need its own separate email.
Summary
A newsletter is a great tool for communicating with your association's members. Combining great content, design and frequency will make your newsletter awesome.]]></description>
		  <link>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=66</link>
		  <pubDate>Mon, 21 Jan 2013 09:58:00 -0500</pubDate>
		  <guid>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=66</guid>
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		  <title><![CDATA[How to Create a Vision for Your Membership Based Organization]]></title>
		 <description><![CDATA[
Is your membership organization where you want it to be in terms of members or income? If not, consider creating a well-defined vision for improving your group.
You may have vague goals, such as increasing members, but do you know how many members you want to add? Do you have a defined monthly or yearly number you can measure your association against?
In order to have a successful membership organization, you need to evaluate the current status of the group, define what you want to improve, and then create a plan to achieve those goals.
Identify the Problem
So where are you now?
Start with an evaluation phase to figure out how to super-charge your membership organization. This is a more important piece of the puzzle than you might initially think.
Why? Because without an honest look at the real problems plaguing your organization, your solutions will always be out of whack... and the results you get from implementing these solutions will reflect that fact.
The Evaluation - Start with Membership
To identify the areas you need to concentrate on improving for your organization, you will need to really think about the issues you currently face.


How many members do you have? How many did you have last year, and the year before? (Review your association's records or membership management software to get this data.)


How many people are in your prospect database?


What is the average member and prospect attendance at your meetings?


How long have your fellow board members held their current positions?


How do you currently recruit new members?


How do you manage association members  and ndash; manually or with membership management software such as StarChapter?


Membership is just one aspect of your organization. After answering these questions, move on to other areas such as income and the technology tools your association uses.
Using Your Answers to Create Your Vision
Review your answers to pinpoint the areas within your organization that need attention. By recognizing what isn't working, you can translate those items into your vision.
If you noted the membership answers you provided are lacking, first decide what a successful membership looks like. Next, determine what steps you can take to improve in the upcoming year.
Action items may include creating a new recruiting process or starting to use association management software.
Do you need inspiration to get started? Ponder this quote:
"If you don't know exactly where you're going, how will you know when you get there?" - Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free
Now, start creating your vision for your membership organization.]]></description>
		  <link>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=65</link>
		  <pubDate>Mon, 07 Jan 2013 10:40:00 -0500</pubDate>
		  <guid>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=65</guid>
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		  <title><![CDATA[Limited Time Offer: Responsive Website Redesign]]></title>
		 <description><![CDATA[We are very excited to announce our newly released website designs that look fantastic and are 'responsive'. Responsive means that the website will automatically adjust to phones, tablets as well as your regular computer screen. This makes it easier to navigate resulting in a better user experience for your members.

Please visit our showcase page to view these new design templates.
Is your site ready for a fresh look? We can redesign your site based on our new design templates, customizing it to your industry, location, color scheme, logo, etc.
You must hurry because we are only accepting a set amount per month and orders are handled on a first come, first serve basis.
Please contact our support and implementation team: support@starchapter.com or call: 1-866-775-3205 for pricing and details.]]></description>
		  <link>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=64</link>
		  <pubDate>Mon, 17 Dec 2012 09:18:00 -0500</pubDate>
		  <guid>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=64</guid>
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		  <title><![CDATA[The New Page Manager is Set to Launch]]></title>
		 <description><![CDATA[We have been hard at work to bring you the new and improved Page Manager. This update includes changes to the Site Pages and Navigation Manager screens.
Starting soon you will be able to opt-in to the new Page Manager update, with all sites being converted by the beginning of 2013. Please contact StarChapter Support should you have any questions regarding this update.
Here's a glimpse of some of the new features that are included in this update:


Easily move content on pages. We've added a drag and drop interface when editing pages to allow you to quickly and easily reorder content or even move content to different areas of the page.





Change the layout of a page. You will now have the options to change the layout of any page on the site. Go from a 3 column layout to a 2 column layout with the click of a button. You will also be able to add multiple containers to a page and rearrange them through a drag and drop interface.





Additional content sections. We've included some new content sections that can be added to pages. New content sections include a large image slider that rotates through a specific photo gallery, a group listing that will display all members of a specific group and a Twitter feed that will display a specified number of tweets from a specific username.





Add page specific meta data. Now you'll have the option to add meta data for a specific page in addition to site-wide meta data. Meta data is used by search engines for ranking purposes and adding page specific meta data could increase your site's search ranking.





Additional options for page restrictions. In addition to members-only pages, you will also be able to restrict pages to different member and non-member groups. This will give you greater flexiblity in how your site is presented to your members and non-members.





Draft copies of pages. When you go to edit a page, a draft copy of that page is automatically created. This gives you the ability to test new layouts or to move content around without affecting the live page.





Quickly reorder links in navigation menus. Reorder links, including sub links, in navigation menus quickly and easily through a drag and drop interface.



Starting on Dec. 3 you will be able to opt-in to the new Page Manager update, with all sites being converted by Jan. 2. Please contact StarChapter support should you have any questions regarding this update.]]></description>
		  <link>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=63</link>
		  <pubDate>Tue, 13 Nov 2012 12:05:00 -0500</pubDate>
		  <guid>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=63</guid>
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		  <title><![CDATA[Listen to Your Members]]></title>
		 <description><![CDATA[Use the survey functionality to collect valuable feedback from your membership.
Running a chapter or organization can be a daunting task for any board but using surveys to find out what your members want (and don't want) can simplify the process. StarChapter makes it easy to create surveys for your members through the Survey Manager. Surveys will appear on your website and can be open to the public or to members only and can also be emailed through the Email Manager. There are numerous ways that surveys can be used to collect feedback from your members but here are a few of our suggestions:


See how a recent meeting was received. Surveys are a valuable tool in collecting feedback on recent meetings. You could present specific questions regarding the topic or speaker (such as Was this topic relevant to you?) or you could allow members to provide open-ended comments about the meeting.


Gather suggestions for future meetings. Maybe there is a list of topics that your board is trying to decide between when setting up the coming year's meetings. Why not bring your membership in on the decision? You could present the list and ask your members to vote for their top 5 choices. This is a great way to include your membership on a decision that will directly benefit them.


Vote for the new board. Instead of emailing a form that must be manually filled out and sent back, use a survey to quickly and easily present the new board member choices for a vote. You can even email a direct link to the survey through the Email Manager to ensure your membership votes in the coming election.


Take advantage of StarChapter's survey functionality to find out what's most important to your membership. By listening to your members you can continue to grow and improve your chapter for many years to come.]]></description>
		  <link>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=62</link>
		  <pubDate>Tue, 09 Oct 2012 09:51:00 -0400</pubDate>
		  <guid>http://starchapter.com/blog.php?thread_id=62</guid>
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