• Professional New (Active members for less than one year.)
• Professional (Active members who attend meetings.)
•  Professional Core (Active members for more than one year and who have served in leadership positions—committees, board of directors, etc.)
• Professional Inactive (Members who do not attend meetings.)
• Merited (Core members who have retired and are still active members.)
• Student (Potential Professional members)
• Associate (Businesses)
• Members-At-Large (Members who do not pay chapter dues or attend chapter meetings.
  
  Each of these eight types of members has the opportunity to gain value from their membership as well as add value to the membership of others.

Let’s explore various ways members help each other gain the most from membership in IAAP.

1. Effective meeting preparations (developed by core members and carried out with the assistance of active members, merited members, and new members) contribute to smoothly run meetings and results in more time for all members to network.

2. Contributions from members such as merited members, associate members, and members-at-large provide an opportunity for a wider variety of educational programs (that may include recertification points or CEUs) resulting in shared learnings, ground-breaking experiences, and skills to provide all members with the professional edge in their career. We may also have some Inactive members who would be excellent program speakers. This may just be the approach to get them interested in attending more often.

3. Professional core and merited members are our greatest available experts as mentors. Both the experienced members and the new or student members will grow from this coaching relationship. All members involved in the mentoring process will learn to be open to new and innovated ideas, and it provides new leaders the opportunity and freedom to grow.

4. Newsletters developed by the newsletter committee reflect input from a variety of membership experience contributing to a top-notch communication/promotional tool. This interaction between core and other members provides association news to use to their advantage. It encourages personal and professional camaraderie by providing up-to-date information about fellow chapter members or upcoming special events. It promotes the variety of programs resulting from the chapter survey and encourages attendance by all members. Additionally, this is an excellent tool for announcing the successes of chapter members (e.g., promotions, awards, certificates, etc.) Lastly, it is a great tool to make contact with our inactive members, student members, members-at-large, and associate members. These newsletters announce the time, location, and date of our meetings, and those who receive it may decide to attend an upcoming meeting or special event, so we need to make sure all members, regardless of membership type, are on our newsletter distribution list.

These are just a few examples of how we can effectively utilize our members’ expertise and resources. The key is to identify how each type of member may contribute to the success of all members with benefits being shared individually and as a chapter. This key keeps the door of membership retention open for our chapters.

As chapter members demonstrate a commitment to each other, everyone has the opportunity to learn and grow together. The entire chapter shares in the accolades of successful meetings and events.

How do you make this “magic” happen?

I challenge you to do five things . . . Survey your members, create a plan of action as a result of the survey, implement the plan, evaluate the results of the implemented the plan by conducting an additional survey, and make adjustments to the plan per your members’ professional needs. Again, I encourage you to conduct a membership survey at least once per chapter year to ensure you are always aware of your members’ needs

So . . . What is the payoff for listening to your members? Membership Retention! When you build the programs around the needs of your members, membership retention will not be a concern. Meeting members’ professional needs is not only the top priority for every chapter board of directors in our association, it is the solution to membership retention.

To all of our members, regardless of the type of member you currently are . . . we salute you. We value your ideas, expertise, and leadership. We would not be where we are today without you and your suggestions. Let’s continue working together for the good of our association and each other.