Retaining your current members and attracting new ones to your nonprofit organization is essential.

Here are the 18 tips on how to increase the membership of your nonprofit organization:

• Develop your own website - where your current members can hang out and nw prospects can skim through to gather info for your organization;

• Organize an open event where new like-minded people could learn more about your organization and the causes it supports;

• Follow up with your guests after the event;

• Sponsor a local event;

• Take part in a relevant industry conference and present your organization to the public;

• Have a booth at a fair;

• Host a charitable event;

• Turn your current members into brand advocates and encourage member referrals;

• Volunteer as a group - this will help you meet new people who share the same values and interests;

• Create a promotional video that you and your current members could share on your website an social media;

• Share video testimonials online;

• Personally connect with each new prospect;

• Carefully plan your membership benefits - know what your member personas need and deliver it to them in order to nurture their motivation and sense of belonging to the organization;

• Give special discounts and perks to your members;

• Create an online community by being active on Social Media;

• Network with other clubs and organizations;

• Introduce your organization to local business via an email campaign or brochures and flyers;

• Promote your organization in the local universities & colleges.

• Decide on the specific type of your membership program. Depending on the roles your members play in your organization, your membership program would be donor, consumer or advocate-based.

• Consider whether you’d have a membership fee or you’d welcome new additions to the team free of charge;

• List down what would be the benefits that you’d offer to your members. You need to motivate them to join your cause;

• Create a recruitment strategy to grow your membership;

• Create a retention strategy that will motivate your members to remain loyal and dedicated to your cause.

Here are 8 tips on how to successfully run a non profit membership program and increase membership retention:

• Offer special perks to your members;

• Organize members-only events;

• Offer membership cards;

• Interact with your members on a regular basis;

• Ask your members for feedback and their personal opinion on issues related to the organization’s growth, internal policies, promotion strategy and future goals;

• Have an internal communication platform and/or newsletter;

• Conduct exit interviews with leaving members;

• Assign your loyal members special roles in the organization, i.e. a recruitment role, etc.