ASCD's membership has grown dramatically over the past 20 years: from about 75,000 in 1987 to more than 180,000 today. We're proud of this growth, because we believe it reflects the broad appeal of ASCD's values, mission, vision, and our many products and services.
Still, we want to be as responsive as we can be to the professional needs of all our members. And one inescapable fact about ASCD's membership efforts troubles us deeply. Each of the past several years, many thousands of the educators who joined ASCD did not renew their memberships. Many of them are educators who, after agreeing to "try ASCD" on a provisional basis, elected not to renew. Essentially, they found ASCD's offerings attractive enough to pique their interest—but not enough to keep them as full-fledged members.
One clear impact of nonrenewal is financial. It's considerably more expensive to recruit a new member than to renew a member already on our rolls. And the resources spent on recruiting new members cannot then be spent on enhancing services to our current membership.
The other impact is harder to define. A professional association such as ASCD is more than a list of people who pay dues to receive products. It's about people coming together around a set of core values, continuing the conversation about how we can create opportunities for all children to succeed. This bond is difficult to maintain if large numbers of members are "turning over" each year.
With these issues in mind, we've begun to take significant steps to improve ASCD's rate of member retention. For example:
A newly formed staff committee, the Member Retention Group, is examining our entire recruitment and retention process, from the time a membership offer is made until the point at which a member renews. We're trying to identify steps in our process that can be modified to improve service to members, and, we hope, boost their retention with ASCD. In addition, we're exploring ASCD's product line to determine if there are ways we can increase the value of our products to members and potential members.
The entire ASCD staff has been involved in our effort to improve member retention. All ASCD staff members have discussed the data on our renewal rates, and they have generated thoughtful suggestions on how we might address the problem. Member retention is an organizationwide responsibility, so it is critical that all ASCD staff members are involved in developing constructive responses.
To supplement our staff's observations, we're expanding our efforts to formally investigate why members don't renew. A research firm is regularly surveying lapsed members to find out why they haven't renewed. This provides us with reliable data to guide our efforts.
In addition, other steps we've recently taken, we believe, will reflect favorably on our member retention efforts. For example, we have instituted a new Customer Service Center with a toll-free phone number (1-800-933-ASCD) to give superior service to members. And the realignment of ASCD operations last fall, we feel confident, will make our products and services more responsive to member needs than ever before.
We're very interested in any ideas and comments you might have on how ASCD can serve you better. What is ASCD doing right or wrong, in your view? Are our products meeting your professional needs? What about our prices and delivery procedures? What else can we do to ensure your continued satisfaction? To comment, call any Call Service Consultant at our 800 number, send e-mail to "(member@ascd.org)," or write us at ASCD, 1250 N. Pitt St., Alexandria, VA 22314-1453.