2. Effective Member Engagement Scoring and Data Use
Debbie McKeon, Senior Vice President Member Services, Council of Michigan Foundations
Serenity Greenfield, Director of Marketing & Membership, Exponent Philanthropy
Paul Kim, Research and Knowledge Manager, Philanthropy Northwest

3. Questions
1. Why did your organization decide to begin calculating engagement? What were your goals at the outset?

4. Questions
2. What types of engagement activities do you include in your score? And, what did you decide not to score?

5. Items CMF Scores for Engagement
1 Point
3 Points
5 Points
Attended a Program (1pt/program)
Speaker or Panelist
CMF Board Member
Requested Technical Assistance
Chairs a Committee
Participates in Affinity Group
Funded A Special Project (Grant)
Participates in an Initiative (Re-Grant)
Event Sponsor
Committee Member
Provided Operational Support
Referred a New Member

6. Items CMF Decided To Exclude
Paying Dues
Opening E-Communications
Too granular on what we might count and for how many points
KEEP IT SIMPLE

7. Questions
3. How have you segmented your membership? Why did you decide to look at the scores of these smaller groups within your membership?

8. CMF Segmentation

9. Questions
4. How have you changed your member engagement activities, communications, internal processes, etc. because of the scores?

10. CMF changes in communications
Language Matters!
Classifying some one as “Low Engaged” or “Not Engaged”, upsets people.
Not Engaged members still pay dues and believe in CMF’s mission, they are ”Mission Supporters”
We need to re-affirm there is nothing wrong with being at any of these levels if they are happy!
Customized approach-meet members where they are
Community of philanthropy—want relationship, not transactional

11. CMF changes in communications
OLD Language
High Engagement
Medium Engagement
Low Engagement
None

12. Questions
5. What assumptions did you make during the process that were wrong? Did you have any unrealistic expectations?

13. CMF Assumptions Not Engaged or Low Engaged = Not Happy with CMF ☹️
Low or Not Engaged = High risk of dropping 📉
Everyone wants to move to a higher level of engagement 📈
Everyone needs to be moved to “High Engagement” 💯
Need to validate transactional vs relationship value

14. Questions
6. When have you revisited your strategy, or scoring? How have you adapted or adjusted your approach based on what the scores revealed or new strategic priorities?

15. CMF Strategic Priority
Approximately 29 percent of CMF’s members would be considered “Mission Supporters”
and the vast majority we spoke with (98%) are satisfied with CMF and their level of interaction. 
CMF Strategy: Meet Members Where THEY Want To BE

16. Questions
7. An engagement score doesn’t tell the whole picture of a member’s engagement. How do you move beyond the objective focus of numbers and personalize the scores or add in a human element to the process?

17. CMF Personalizing Engagement
Member feedback calls
Assess satisfaction with CMF
At least 1 conversation per year
3 Simple Questions

18. Questions
8. What are your top 3 lessons learned? Or, what are three things you wish you knew before undertaking the process?

19. Top 3 Lessons Learned/Wish We Knew Before We Started
Debbie:
Think of Members Individually-customized approach, relationship
Prioritize Staff Time to Relationship Building-pays off in a big way
Package what we do in easily consumable ways-Ask CMF, Suite of Services-We’ve Got Your Back booklet and video

20. Top 3 Lessons Learned/Wish We Knew Before We Started
Serenity:
Engagement scores are just numbers and don’t tell the whole story.
An engagement score is not a direct predictor of the likelihood to renew.
Don’t let perfection get in the way of progress. Start somewhere, score something, and adjust/improve along the way.

21. Top 3 Lessons Learned/Wish We Knew Before We Started
Paul:
Don’t over-survey; 1:1 outreach can be better.
Test your hunches.
Be patient and trust the process.

22. Questions?

23. Forum Report Now Available Advancing Racial Equity in Philanthropy: A Scan of Philanthropy-Serving Organizations
Access on the conference app
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