WELCOME!
How to Create,
Promote and Sustain a
Non-Dues, Revenue
Program
Presented by:
Paul M. Meese
Vice President, Client Relations
SingleSource Services
What we will accomplish
during this session:
 Define what an affinity program is for
your members
 What to ask a vendor when negotiating
 Your time: How to make this program a
success!
 How to decide which vendors to choose
for your membership
What is an Affinity
Program?
 “Affinity” defined: a natural attraction or
feeling of kinship
 Affinity services – services offered by an
association for it’s members
 Affinity programs – can be revenue
generating or not, a common service all
members can use or utilize
What is an Affinity
Program? (cont)
 An opportunity for the Association to:
 Offer members an exclusive benefit
 Offer members a discount on services that
they probably use or need anyway
 Offer members a way to be more profitable
 Offer members a reason to stay (Retention
is a good thing!)
What An Affinity Program
is not!
 A headache maker
 An easy fix
 The entire retention strategy
What Makes a Good
Affinity Program?
 Does it make sense for your members?
 The same or a similar program, should
not be readily available elsewhere
 The supplier must be reputable
 Is there a revenue potential for the
association?
Value Based Business
Outcomes
 Define what you want for an outcome
 Define what value can be produced as a
result of this program
 Define the functional requirements
 Define the technical requirements
Do we or Don’t we?
(7 questions to use to survey those
members!)
1. When it comes to reviewing and controlling
costs within my company or organization, I
would classify myself as:
A. A hawk; I watch every dime
B. A lion; If something better walks in front of me, I
would look and maybe pounce on it
C. A Tigger; I bounce from program to program
looking for the best deal
D. A hibernating Bear: It’s all on auto-pilot and it’s all
good. No need to rock the boat.
Survey (cont.)
2.
If we as your association, could offer you discounted
programs in the following areas, which programs
would you consider:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
J.
Payroll for a flat fee of $2.69/check
Background screening services
Drug Testing
HR Legal Helpline®
Employee surveys
Exit interviews
Human Resources Management System
Review of trash removal costs for free
Discounts on shipping
Something else (Please tell us.)
Survey (cont.)
3. My top priority this coming year is to:
A.
B.
C.
D.
Control costs, at every opportunity
Increase sales/income
Increase my customer base
Maintain what I have and be happy for it.
Flat is the new up.
Survey (cont.)
4. If the association offered a program that
could save me money by getting tax credits
for the employees I hire, could save me
overhead costs, or could reduce costs in
other areas like shipping, car rentals, trash
removal, etc.:
A. I would be all over it. Anything to help the bottom
line
B. I would look at the amount of work versus the
credit/savings and then decide it I wanted to do it
C. Programs are like shell games. They come and
go but don’t really work
Survey (cont.)
5. Should we as an association even try to help
you be more profitable, or are we simply here
for educating and networking and throwing a
great conference?
A. Yes, I think you have an obligation to help me
save money and be more profitable
B. Educate me, help me to network and send me the
newsletter. That is all you are responsible for and
all I expect.
C. Some combination. If you can do it all, I would
think that is better for me.
Survey (cont.)
6. Do you know what an Affinity Program
is?:
A. Yes
B. No
C. I might
Survey (cont.)
7. An Affinity Program would help the
association keep your costs down (keeping
dues stable), would offer services to save you
money, and would bring you quality national
providers that you might not have been
aware of. This would be
A.
B.
C.
D.
A good thing
A very good thing
Something I might look at if I have the time
I have no interest in an affinity program of any
sort.
Listen and Compile the
Short List
 Create a short list of vendors that will
meet the need for:
 Functional outcomes
 Technical requirements
 Assist you to build your credibility as an
association
The Vendor Relationship
 Option 1: The Marketing fee - $1000 $10,000
 This puts heavy responsibility on you to
deliver
 You may only have a vendor for a year if the
fit is not right
 You will need high communication and a
game plan moving forward, plus a marketing
guru to support this approach
The Vendor Relationship
(cont.)
 Option 2 – The vendor does all the work and
you do nothing
 Upside – if you have a smaller staff, minimal
intrusion or commitment from them
 Downside 1 – you lose a bit of control on what gets
sent to your members and how often they are
getting solicited
 Downside 2 – you do not have immediate income
 Benefit – easier sell to the board
 Benefit – probably will sustain longer, if a true
partnership
Now what?
 Assuming that the survey has positive results
and you have a 10-15% response rate, you
have to get board buy in
 Ask for 2-5 company specific proposals so the
board can see that one size fits all, or doesn’t!
 Discuss the marketing plan AND get ideas from the
board as to what they would like to see, and what
they would not
 If you are going to limit calling members, realize that
you will then have to have a higher level of
communication to the members so they can
comprehend the program
Survey turns to Success!
 Once you have the survey, if the results are
positive, how do you assure success:
 Conference: Have the partner speak and have a
booth at your conference
 Have the board members get in contact with the
partner so they understand what the benefit is and
can talk it up
 Newsletters, webinars, mailers – anything else that
can help you get that name in front of the members.
Familiarity breeds support.
Survey turns to Success!
 Use your newsletter to promote the
partnership
 Have a rotation or articles if possible
 Have a person’s name as a contact
 Have a toll-free number if possible
 Have a co-branded web site if possible
 Keep the contact info as easy as possible
In choosing programs a
checklist is necessary to
determine:
 Commitment – Are you striving for added value or
just filling up on products/services to look good in
the eyes of members?
 Knowledge – Benchmarking your programs – a
must that includes time, the people, and the cost of
the benefits. You may determine that perhaps the
benefit outweighs the cost.
 Research – As demographics of members change
the need to get outside the box is evident.
 Strategy – A must have to develop a balanced
strategy identifying the key objectives and goals in
offering a member value program
In choosing programs a
checklist is necessary to
determine:
 Implementation Plan – Likely one of the most
critical items in running an affinity program. The plan
to achieve the objectives must be aligned with the
strategy.
 Revitalize –If the program is stale – revitalize it
 Eliminate – Saturated programs based on
competitive market conditions are no longer a
perceived value to members
 Evaluate - Evaluate….Evaluate
 Retention Tool – Use the affinity program as an
added value to members. Not a member? No longer
a benefit.
Questions?
Paul M. Meese
800-713-3412