Formal Retention Plan for Members

To get your users to stay is as important as reaching them in the first place. Having a formal user retention plan can give your Village coordinators something to strive towards in creating a helpful and lasting program.

A good membership/volunteer retention plan should span an entire membership year (and perhaps even longer depending on whether or not you offer a grace period and/or actively communicate with lapsed members). 

A template of your retention plan may look like this: 

Stage 1: (Month 1) 

• Send them a welcome email 
• Give them a phone call 
• Welcome them on social media and/or in your organization’s newsletter 
• Invite them to a new member orientation (either in-person or via webinar) 
• Have them create a test request and incentivize them to use the service a few times to get used to it. 

Stage 2: (Month 2-3) 

• Send them a targeted email based on information they checked when filling out the member application form 
• Invite them to an event 
• Determine if they are using service a significant amount, and communicate to those who are not, encouraging them to do so. 

Stage 3: (Month 4-5) 

• Follow up with another phone call or email to check-in and see how they’re doing and receive specific feedback. 
• Give them a survey to determine how well their needs are being met. 
• Pair them with a specific member mentor to make them feel more included. 
• Send them a personalized email highlighting a specific benefit that you think would be valuable to them. (grouped by preferred request type) 

Future Plans: 

• Send out renewal reminders to users who are close to/are expiring. 
• Keep up communication and make sure to keep your existing base happy as you grow and expand to new horizons. 
• (Awards for continued service and engagement, community spotlights, etc.) 
• Don’t forget to do the same for your volunteers, letting them know their service is appreciated and give feedback opportunities to improve your service model and increase engagement. 

Using these documents in tandem with your general overall reports will give you a snapshot of the overall health of your Village, as well as the health of each individual branch.