ASCD affiliates believe that in diversity there is strength. Each affiliate actively pursues broad representation of membership in terms of ethnicity, gender, age, geographic location, job role, and other areas as identified. Communication is interactive among members and enhances the individual involvement of each member. Affiliates strategically plan for membership growth, recruitment, retention, involvement, recognition, and diversity. Read more in the Affiliate Developmental Continuum ( 51KB).

What Do You Know About Your Affiliate's Membership?

Getting a Complimentary ASCD Membership

Recruiting and Maintaining Members

Types of Membership

Membership Database

Using Brochures and Materials to Build Membership

Retaining and Engaging Members

ASCD Membership Resources

 What Do You Know About Your Affiliate's Membership?

• How many affiliate members do you have?
• How many ASCD members are in your geographic area?
• What are your membership dues?
• How many of your members participate in the ASCD Joint Dues Program?
• What is your retention rate?
• What member information do you have? How is it organized? How is it evaluated?

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 Getting a Complimentary ASCD Membership

Each affiliate receives one complimentary comprehensive ASCD membership each year (July 1–June 30). This membership is intended to provide ASCD books and materials to affiliates so that they can build their libraries and lending libraries. The library membership is issued in the name of the affiliate and must be renewed each year.

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 Recruiting and Maintaining Members

Those who have been a member of ASCD or an affiliate for a while are often surprised when talking to fellow educators to find that they know nothing or little about either. When one is involved in an organization, it only seems natural that everyone else knows about it; too often this is not the case.

ASCD is making strides in gaining membership and is committed to promoting affiliate membership through an online affiliate directory and member referrals. When educators join the Association, they are told that there is a local affiliate that will enhance their membership and are given the option to join both organizations at the same time. Many affiliates are finding more and more that most of their new members are coming from participation in this joint dues program.

Each affiliate may request sets of ASCD membership addresses to use for affiliate membership and program promotions. Affiliates can also use an ASCD service called Affiliate Access that allows participating affiliates remote computer access to selected ASCD membership information. You can download membership information data to your affiliate's local computer for a variety of potential uses, including

• Generating mailing lists.
• Printing mailing labels.
• Creating sorts and searches in database or spreadsheet software.
• Creating merge files for letters in word processing software.
• Addressing envelopes in word processing software.

These tools will help you to recruit new members, communicate with members, and announce programs and recruit participants.

It is your responsibility to recruit new members in your geographic region while also promoting membership in ASCD. Both organizations are partners in the recruitment of new members.

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 Types of Membership

ASCD and its affiliates do not have unified dues and membership. Members of ASCD are not required to be a member of the affiliate and vice versa. As a result, you might consider different membership categories for your organization. Although a single membership category is easy to administer and understand, different categories of membership may attract educators or special groups by employing a different dues structure and, in some cases, different benefits. Examples include

• Retired membership: Reduced dues are offered to retired educators.
• Full-time student membership: Because the cost of completing college degree requirements keeps climbing, a discounted rate for those in full-time teacher education programs helps attract a group of potentially long-term members.
• Group membership: A discounted rate for a group of a specified number. This strategy is especially useful in attracting a group from a school or school district. All members receive the same benefits and services, but the average cost per person is less when paying as a group. For example you might offer a complimentary membership for every 10 members in a group or a reduced rate if payment for a group is remitted to the affiliate in one installment. For production purposes, it may be less costly to mail materials to the school in a bulk group or single package, but this is likely to cost an affiliate more than simply sending to individuals.
• Institutional membership: Similar to a group membership, this membership traditionally includes special discounts for affiliate programs and professional development opportunities.

An affiliate with different categories of membership and dues will have to choose a dues category for members to join through the ASCD Joint Dues Program. ASCD will list one joint dues amount. Any other type of affiliate membership with a different dues structure would not be eligible for this service. Most affiliates find this service to be helpful and rewarding to them and their members. Members make a single payment to the Association to begin or renew membership in both organizations. The cost for this service to the affiliate is 50 cents per transaction made by a member who participates in the service.

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 Membership Database

A membership database can be a powerful tool in recruiting, maintaining, and analyzing affiliate membership.

Many commercial database programs are available. Some are in a spreadsheet format, like Microsoft Office Excel, and others in a database format, such as Microsoft Office Access. While both programs maintain membership records, an association management system has more power and the capacity to organize more detailed information.

The basic format of a membership datafile is important. In addition to basic demographic information, the datafile should include database fields that help you learn more about you members. Some information to track would be

• Unique identification or number for each member
• Type of membership, if multiple levels are offered
• Length of membership (note the join date)
• Dues renewal reminders and letters (note the renewal date)
• How a member found your affiliate (e.g., the ASCD Joint Dues Program, conference registration, print pieces, Web site)
• Date of payment, batch number, and amount paid, for managing accounts and creating deposit reports
• E-mail addresses
• Cell phone and fax numbers
• Job role, for tracking diversity and identifying groups of expertise
• Committee or activity participation, for measuring engagement
• Conference and event registration

Not, however, that the more information you ask for, the less likely it is to given. With few exceptions, gender can be learned from their titles (Ms., Miss, Mrs.), along with a first name. Both ASCD and affiliates are interested in a member's race or ethnicity to evaluate the diversity of their memberships, but many people refuse to respond to this question for personal reasons. It should not be made a requirement. Data gathered on these and similar demographics is likely to be minimal and statistically unreliable.

Each affiliate has unique characteristics, needs, and programs. By incorporating separate fields to track data relating to  your unique needs, your affiliate will run more efficiently and be able to respond quickly to members needs. You may not have the time or resources to create and maintain a membership database; consider contracting with another educational or state organization or service provider to maintain this information.

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 Using Brochures and Materials to Build Membership

Most affiliates have printed materials designed to inform and attract educators to join. One such tool is a brochure that summarizes the affiliate's mission, goals, and member benefits. These brochures are often trifold and designed to be self-mailers. You might also provide officers with a quantity to hand out when they attend other meetings or send them to members when they pay their dues so that each member has the tools to encourage membership.  

To aid in mailings and member recruitment, affiliates are entitled to request sets of mailing labels or may use Affiliate Access to get the names and addresses of newly joined members of ASCD. By downloading the data and creating a mail merge in a word processing software program, you can personalize and target the member recruitment letters. Some affiliates write letters to district superintendents, principals, and others in the education community who are not yet members. Their mailing information can be found in state records that are usually available in electronic format for a small fee. Because the number of these educators can be quite large, consider targeting a specific area such as the region surrounding an upcoming conference or event. 

Combining affiliate membership with conference or event registration, either as an automatic benefit or at a reduced rate, is another way to attract new members through affiliate materials. You can determine the relative value of the strategy by tracking the percentage of members who enroll using the offer and renew their membership at the end of the year in your member database.

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 Retaining and Engaging Members

Individuals are drawn to, and will renew their memberships in, organizations that meet their needs. You should be prepared to regularly assess your members' needs and provide high-quality programs, products, and services directly related to those needs. Assessment opportunities such as conference attendee evaluations offer an insight to program quality and allow constituents to have a voice and become engaged in future activities. Passive trend analysis such as low conference registration or a decrease over time in product subscription can indicate program offerings that are not up to member expectations or needs.

When members are enthusiastic about the organization, they want to be active in it's work. Each affiliate provides opportunities for members to actively participate in leadership by serving on governing bodies, like a board of directors or leadership committee, and advisory committees. Each affiliate member has unique interests and personal goals; offering a variety of leadership roles can provide engagement in an area of special interest or skill. The more opportunities an affiliate can provide for members to actively participate in the organization the more likely members will remain in the organization. Committee membership often serves as the first step in advancing to the board of directors or elected office in an affiliate's leadership. Each committee should be examined by an oversight body on a regular basis to be sure that it is functioning as envisioned and is necessary to further the work of the affiliate.

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