StarChapter

The 7 Pink Goldfish: Standing Out in a Sea of Sameness

Updated: Aug. 6, 2019 | Categories: Membership

Stan Phelps discusses how to use all those things that make your organization different from others, good and bad, to stand out from those who do the same.

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Grow your Membership through Winback Marketing

Updated: Jan. 21, 2026 | Categories: Membership

What’s your plan for reengaging members who left your chapter? Do you let them go and forget they were ever members, or do you have a plan for bringing them back?

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Pink Goldfish: The 5 Factors that Influence Growth

Updated: Jun. 17, 2019 | Categories: Membership

Stan Phelps discuses five factors that determine the potential growth of an organization, and he compares that trajectory to the growth of goldfish.

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Board Job Descriptions: Why You Need Them

Updated: Mar. 29, 2024 | Categories: Board Productivity, Chapter Leadership Turnover

Without board job descriptions, members can’t easily decide if they want a board role. Chapters may also have stressed board members ill-prepared for their jobs. Or both. Written board job descriptions deliver tangible benefits.

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Registration is a Great Place to Grow Your Membership

Updated: May. 8, 2019 | Categories: Membership, Meetings/Events

Making your registration experience as positive and as easy it can be helps keep members happy and turns more guests into members driving growth.

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Who Knew You’d Need to Know How to Sell?

Updated: Feb. 24, 2026 | Categories: Board Productivity

Selling a change to your board, isn’t as hard as it sounds. By incorporating techniques used by effective sales people, you can get your point(s) across.

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Designing Meetings Everyone Wants to Attend

Updated: Mar. 28, 2024 | Categories: Meetings/Events

Structure your event to increase the comfort level of your introverts and your extroverts and encourage everyone to participate, both at the event and with your chapter.

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Is your Admin Moving your Chapter Forward?

Updated: Sep. 22, 2020 | Categories: Board Productivity, Too Many Systems to Manage

If membership isn’t growing, meeting numbers are stagnating, and sponsors are leaving, is your admin the problem? They might just need tools that make their job easier, transparent, and effective.

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How to Increase your Non-dues Revenue and Build a Strong Revenue Stream

Updated: Jan. 30, 2025 | Categories: Revenues

Just because your chapter is a non-profit doesn’t mean you have to be limited in your programming or scholarship funding. Time to work on your non-dues revenue streams.

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3 Steps to Making Chapter Changes Successful

Updated: Sep. 22, 2020 | Categories: Board Productivity, Outdated Processes

Change can be challenging. Following a clear change structure can help you and those you’re asking to change better prepare for, implement, and accept that change.

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Tips for Developing Member Advocacy

Updated: Mar. 25, 2025 | Categories: Membership

Advocacy by your members is vital to long-term success. Members need to communicate the chapter's value to their peers and within the industry.

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Goal Setting is Critical to Your Chapter’s Success

Updated: Mar. 5, 2019 | Categories: Goal Setting

When you set goals for events and have a process in place, your events become effective chapter engagement tools going beyond networking and CE.

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How to Make Your Members Fall Back in Love With Your Chapter: Are you Giving your Members what they Want?

Updated: Feb. 6, 2019 | Categories: Membership

If your members keep saying they’re too busy to attend events or volunteer, there’s a good chance they’re not getting what they need from the chapter. The Almquist Value Pyramid can help you figure out what’s really important to them.

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The Do’s and the Don’ts of Bringing on New Board Members

Updated: Oct. 24, 2025 | Categories: Board Productivity

On-board new board members correctly and they’re engaged and excited. Do it wrong and you could lose them before they start. Here are some tips for ensuring new board members start off on the right foot.

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Your Chapter is Missing Out if You’re Not Promoting Micro-volunteering

Updated: Nov. 25, 2024 | Categories: Volunteers

Are you having trouble finding people to execute your chapter projects? Perhaps micro-volunteering could help you get it all done and get more of your members involved.

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Tips for Optimizing your Dues Renewal Communication Strategy

Updated: Jan. 7, 2019 | Categories: Membership

For a membership renewal process to be successful, it needs to be supported by an organized, defined communications program that makes it as easy as possible for members to renew.

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Not Just Any Goal Will Do – Set the Right Lifecycle Goals for your Chapter

Updated: Jan. 17, 2019 | Categories: Goal Setting

It’s great to have chapter goals, but if they’re not the right goals, you could be missing out on members and revenue.

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Thinking of Updating your Website in 2019? Here are Some Design Trends to Consider

Updated: Jan. 7, 2019 | Categories: Website

Consider a site review and implementing some of the 2019 web design trends to re-engage your members.

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Are you Getting the Right Information? 4 Ways to Collect Better Meeting Feedback

Updated: Sep. 23, 2024 | Categories: Member Communications, Surveys, Membership Data Inconsistencies

Do you know the real reasons people attend your events? If you’re not giving them what they want, they may go somewhere else to get it.

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Building a Sustainable Revenue Stream with a Formal Sponsorship Program

Updated: May. 27, 2025 | Categories: Fundraising, Goal Setting, Revenues

Relying on dues for revenue can be short-sighted. Adding the right sponsorship program can help your chapter remain solvent for the long-term.

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What’s your Plan for When a Key Team Member Leaves?

Updated: Sep. 17, 2019 | Categories: Board Productivity

To ensure your chapter’s continued survival, you need to know your SPoFs. You also need a plan to avoid single points of failure and to decrease the stress brought on by the departure of an individual critical team member.

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How can Association Management Software Help your Chapter?

Updated: Sep. 22, 2020 | Categories: Member Communications, Too Many Systems to Manage

How many systems do you use to manage your chapter? If it’s more than one, how well do they function together? A change in technology could help you better serve your chapter and your members.

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5 Ideas for Delivering an Unforgettable Year-end Event and Attracting New Members

Updated: Nov. 4, 2018 | Categories: Meetings/Events

It’s time for a last look at this year’s membership numbers. Before you start thinking about changes for the upcoming year, focus on the now; you still have time to bring in new members this year.

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Using Email to Drive Engagement

Updated: Nov. 6, 2018 | Categories: Member Communications

When messaging and context are appropriate, email can improve open rates while moving the reader to act. However, the wrong email can cause the reader to look elsewhere. Organizations need to be aware of the distinction.

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A Plan for your Chapter Finances is Key to Your Long-term Success

Updated: Sep. 22, 2020 | Categories: Revenues, Lack of Resources

Dues alone won’t keep your chapter financially sound. How long could your chapter survive if you had no dues revenue? Learn how to increase your chapter’s financial stability.

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5 Ways to Avoid Being the Target of Email Spoofing

Updated: Sep. 23, 2024 | Categories: Member Communications

Take steps to protect your chapter from email spoofing and develop a plan for dealing with a spoofing attack, to secure your email program and the integrity of your communications.

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How Many Members Do You Have?

Updated: Sep. 22, 2020 | Categories: Membership, Membership Data Inconsistencies

Are you satisfied with the size of your membership? Focusing on the members you have isn’t enough. Learn proven strategies to increase the number of individuals who join your chapter.

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10 Steps to Successful Chapter Meetings

Updated: Mar. 28, 2024 | Categories: Meetings/Events

A successful meeting requires preparation and planning – before, during and after – to fully engage attendees and deliver its intended message. Keep these 10 steps in mind when you plan your next meeting.

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New Member Engagement Plans Help with Retention and Renewal

Updated: Oct. 24, 2025 | Categories: Member Communications, Membership

Right after new members join your chapter, you’ll find many asking themselves some of the same questions they asked before they joined. Organizations with engagement plans answer these questions early on and better engaging these members.

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Increase your Chapter’s Reach with Association Management Software

Updated: Jan. 23, 2023 | Categories: Board Productivity, Too Many Systems to Manage

An Association Management System (AMS) allows you to update and streamline your chapter’s processes while decreasing the amount of manual work involved, the number of people required, and the time you spend.

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Brown Bag Lunches Can Help with your Volunteer Program

Updated: Sep. 19, 2025 | Categories: Volunteers

These relaxed, open forums allow for easy interactions between your volunteers and your general member base while giving you the chance to talk easily about the different chapter volunteer opportunities and drum up more interest in your programs.

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Strategy Sessions to Consider for Summer Review

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018 | Categories: Board Productivity

We’re continuing along our back to board basics series with a concentrated look at four key strategic areas to include in your summer review: board continuity, your membership structure, finances, and special programming.

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How to Use Subject Lines to Get Into Members’ Inboxes

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018 | Categories: Member Communications

The Do’s & Don’ts of crafting the perfect subject line to ensure that your members are receiving important information regarding your events, educational opportunities, or advocacy efforts.

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Championing Professional and Trade Associations

Updated: May. 10, 2023 | Categories: National Perspective

Many changes happen successfully at the national level, through lobbying, conferences, and webinars. However, there are many changes and improvements that can happen easier and have a greater impact when they take place at the chapter level.

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Keeping Your Chapters Aligned

Updated: Sep. 22, 2020 | Categories: National Perspective, Inconsistent Branding

Associations with chapters rely heavily on those chapters to drive their mission, through their local and regional presence and support and their on-the-ground member and community engagement.

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Summer Checklist to Prepare for Getting Back to the Board Basics

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018 | Categories: Board Productivity

Summer. A time known for fun in the sun and vacations. While we definitely encourage having some fun over the summer, we also recommend making time to prepare to get back to the board basics to set your chapter up for fall success.

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Email Design Basics to Engage Your Members

Updated: Jul. 28, 2025 | Categories: Member Communications

How your email looks is as important as what it says to successfully communicate with your membership.

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How to Use Your Calendar to Add Value for Your Members

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018 | Categories: Member Communications, Meetings/Events

Curating a robust calendar is a surefire way to drive traffic to your chapter website and add value for your members

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Chapter Expansions

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018 | Categories: National Perspective

A strong chapter presence is essential to the success of your organization. A clear, documented strategy helps ensure expansions go as planned and provide consistency from one new chapter to the next.

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Location. Location. Location

Updated: Sep. 23, 2024 | Categories: National Perspective

Selecting the right location can play a significant role in the outcome of your chapters’ meetings. National can guide its chapters in selecting locations that are both in line with the missions of the association and meet the needs of the chapter.

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Take a Listening Tour of your Chapters

Updated: May. 10, 2023 | Categories: National Perspective, Lack of Insight into Chapter Performance

As a national association, the success of your chapters is the success of the association as a whole. How chapter leaders are trained and fulfill their duties is a direct reflection on the national.

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Chapters – Are They Worth the Cost?

Updated: May. 10, 2023 | Categories: National Perspective

Are your chapters worth your time and money? Yes, yes they are. Many member needs can be addressed well at the national level, online and through conferences, but some can be addressed more effectively at the local level through chapters.

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15 Easy Steps to Creating Your Chapter Sponsor Program

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018 | Categories: Revenues

Here are 15 steps to revenue-building success to improve your chapter’s ability to provide more value through sponsors.

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How to Overcome Volunteer Decline

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018 | Categories: Volunteers

Struggling to get volunteers? Here are 6 ways to counteract this and move one step closer to chapter success.

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Why We Think Associations Are More Important Now than Ever Before

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018 | Categories: Membership

The value of association membership realized in its benefits to industry and members has become more important than ever as the employment landscape has shifted.

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Doing Nothing: How’s that Working for your Chapters?

Updated: May. 10, 2023 | Categories: National Perspective

As a result of limited staff, small budgets and the reliance on volunteers, many chapters make minimal or no changes to what they offer in areas like membership, engagement and technology usage. This approach, while safe and easy, it is also limiting.

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Want all your chapters to be successful? Consider a regional chapter management strategy

Updated: May. 10, 2023 | Categories: National Perspective

Many associations use the same management structure for all their chapters, around the country. Considering the fast pace of business and the differing norms and needs of individuals, a single management direction puts many at a disadvantage.

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Is keeping your chapter management technology in house the right direction for your chapters?

Updated: Oct. 12, 2018 | Categories: National Perspective

When an organization uses technology effectively, members react as expected. They attend events, they renew their memberships, and they bring new members with them. But, when it doesn’t work, they look elsewhere for their educational and networking needs.

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5 Steps to Combat Survey Fatigue

Updated: Sep. 19, 2025 | Categories: Member Communications, Surveys

We are advocates for getting feedback from your members frequently, but how much is too much feedback? We have outlined 5 steps to take to limit your chapter’s chances of survey fatigue and negatively impacting your membership.

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How to Be Strategic with your Chapter Communications

Updated: Jan. 21, 2026 | Categories: Member Communications

Managing your Membership Roster & Prospect List as it relates to Communication

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Chapter Insights

Bringing you membership engagement best practices, membership marketing ideas, and insight into running an association chapter so you can increase member participation. See how association chapters in numerous industries provide great experiences and value to their association members.

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