IEEE ACT, Australia Membership Development Strategy & Plan Sakari Mattila IEEE ACT Membership Chair Australia Capital Territory photo

IEEE ACT MD Strategy IEEE ACT Situation IEEE ACT MD Plan and connections to other activities Topics

IEEE ACT MD Strategy 1. Cooperation with local and Australia wide professional organisations, not competition with them 2. Students are interested in membership activities 3. Higher grade members are known to retain their membership more likely than basic members 4. We have a low-profile membership campaign going on all the time when advertising IEEE events 5. E-Notices going to all IEEE ACT members are best way to contact existing members, web page for continuous presence

IEEE MD Support & Evolution ,500 members BMS transition ‘Great Recession’ Optimizing the Campaigns > renewal recovery recruitment reinstatement benefits promotion 382,400 members (renewal alerts integrated into next-gen products) 367,400 members Integrated multimedia Putting a face on membership promotion Remaking the Collateral > Integrated MD strategy & plan Integrated MD reporting 397,000 members Synthesis & Engagement First-year member experience Message testing MD webcasts 374,800 members Building a Volunteer “Field Team” > MD KitsMD portal Membership presentation MD Manual MGM business cards MD virtual community On-demand Kit ordering

MD Strategy with Full Volunteer Integration MD Volunteer “Platform”

Membership Situation Australia Capital Territory Large part of IEEE ACT members are employed by the three major universities or Australian government. There are a few high-tech companies in ACT. Graduate and doctoral students are the major sector for new members, especially overseas students needing international recognition Over five hundred members out of total population of about is fair share, but the local association have proportionally more members – because of the benefits they can offer and IEEE can not. Special local issue is the IEEE members living outside the area, but working in ACT. Contacting them has been a problem for many years.

Australian Capital Territory Section Total Members Since Year 2000 Formation Date: 18 November 1988

Section / Council Total Members ACT Section Total Members since Year 2000

IEEE Australian Capital Territory Section Membership 31 December 2011

SWOT – Section’s Member Growth Program Strengths Strong scientific culture of ACT Possibility to cooperate with scientific oriented high schools (pre membership) Fairly large number of active student members Weaknesses Demanding work of the members, thus keeping active participation low Acute shortage of volunteers Opportunities Larger number of relevant students in the universities Relatively large number of potential higher grade members Threats Australian professional organisations in competitive position for members Government downsizing may cause members to move out of ACT

Section MD Plan 1. Keep organising and promoting membership activities to retain members 2. Promoting higher grade memberships 3. Supporting higher grade membership applicants 4. When really appropriate, organising publicity events

Membership Year Begins Full-year dues enacted Renewal opens Key month for launching new or u p g r a d e d b e n e f i t s From Sep thru Dec, revenue d e f e r r e d t o n e x t y e a r Membership Mid-Year ½-Year Dues-Cycle Begins Arrears-Recovery Begins Key month for launching new or u p g r a d e d b e n e f i t s Membership Year Concludes Member retention rates determined Business fiscal performance determined ½-year dues cycle concludes Calendar Year Concludes Year-end membership statistics determined Active-Status Terminator Past-due members placed i n t o a r r e a r s Timing is Everything – Know the Membership Calendar

Constituencies Technical Development Professional Development Community Development Cost Savings / Discounts Existing Members Prospective Members Differentiate Audiences – Different Expectations … their needs change throughout a career … they are everywhere. When we do recruit them, 50%+ attrition rate (first-year member strategy)

IEEE Entity CommunicationsEventsRecognition Evaluation Considerations Tactic A Tactic B Tactic C Tactic A Tactic B Tactic C Tactic A Tactic B Tactic C Event Participation Volunteer Recruitment Student Branch Vitality Member Retention Opportunities for Engaging Existing Members Visiting lecturers (DL) in cooperation with universities, industry and other professional associations Informal meetings like industry visits or BBQs The exact dates or details of the the events can not be planned, because visiting speakers usually are available only on relatively short notice, a few weeks. Student events are planned to match university timetables.

IEEE Entity CommunicationsEventsRecognition Evaluation Considerations Tactic A Tactic B Tactic C Tactic A Tactic B Tactic C Tactic A Tactic B Tactic C Diversity and frequency of opportunities for member recruitment Follow-up with interested individuals First-year member engagement Opportunities for Engaging Prospective Members Supported student activities Visiting lecturers (DL) in cooperation with universities, industry and other professional associations The exact dates or details of the the events can not be planned, because visiting speakers usually are available only on relatively short notice, a few weeks. Student events are planned to match university timetables.

Membership Development Plan Engagement Venues & Frequency 1Q (Jan – Mar) 2Q (Apr – Jun) 3Q (Jul – Sep) 4Q (Oct – Dec) Communications Tactic A Tactic B Tactic C Events Tactic A Tactic B Tactic C Recognition Tactic A Tactic B Tactic C

Status Update Engagement Venues & Frequency Goals & Progress Communications Tactic A Tactic B Tactic C Events Tactic A Tactic B Tactic C Recognition Tactic A Tactic B Tactic C

Section’s Membership Situation –In proportion to the population membership numbers are good –Retaining members needs constant, but not intrusive attention –Too pushy contacts will have negative responses, no telephoning nor individual letters, only private discussions in various meetings –Membership seems to be close to saturation when compared to other professional societies Section MD Plan –Student events and visiting lecturers support –Higher grade applicant support (upgrading) –Cooperation with Australian professional societies and discreet IEEE promotion in these events In Summary…