Event Strategies for Non Profit Member Organizations

As an up and coming non-profit professional organization, we want growth, growth and more growth and in a downward spiraling economy at that.  And how does a non profit member organization accomplish that small miracle?  By adding value to each and every member and by creating great experiences for them to participate in.  We are competing for attention in the age of “communitainment” where people can network and be entertained all from the comfort of their home without getting hit up by five sales people and eating rubber chicken/fish.

It’s not enough to operate based on last years reliable, stable model of 10 monthly meetings and one annual conference to provide value.  We must branch out with regional micro groups where members can network and collaborate more effectively.

We also have to aggressively recruit new volunteers and provide them opportunities to grow and participate in the success of the organizations.  We have started doing this through volunteer summits that allow new people to get involved in the areas that they want to participate.

We also need to promote these events agressively by word of mouth and social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook and microblogs like Twitter as well as widgets play a key part in that strategy.