Membership retention and recruitment tip #60: Give a money back guarantee.
I recently bought a pair of slippers online. I wanted the slippers and had been looking everywhere for them. Sadly, when they arrived, they did not feel good on my feet. They were tight and a tad short and the top didn’t come as far down on my foot as I would like and...you get the picture. Even though they were something I had wanted for months, I hadn’t tried them on and when I did, they did not work, so I had to return them. Fortunately, the business made the return process simple.
Club memberships should work the same way. People are curious about what service clubs do and often they are interested in being associated with the people who belong to such organizations, but they are sometimes hesitant to join because they don’t want to spend money on something that isn’t a good fit for them at the time. That’s where a money back guarantee comes into play.
Ask potential members to give your club a try and if they are not satisfied in 90 days, let them know you’ll refund their investment, no questions asked. Then make it a priority to help the new recruit become a fully involved member so that they want to stay.
Being involved in a cause helps one develop loyalty. Loyalty leads to commitment and commitment leads to passion. All are desirable traits for member retention and all make it easier to attract more people to the cause.