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Things aren't coming back like they were. This is a test. What grade will your association get? The latest on what is happening in the association field regarding memberships, events, and sponsorships.             Hello and welcome to JP Moery’s Association Hustle Podcast. President of The Moery Company, JP’s mission is to arm today’s associations with insight and strategy to thrive and a progressively complex and competitive business landscape. 21st century associations must move forward with a little bit of hustle and revenue development at their core. Here’s JP.   I've got a very direct message for you today: it's time to get tough. Things aren't coming back like they were. This is a test. What grade will your association get? This is a great opportunity for us as well, here's what I mean: This is probably the biggest professional economic test we are ever going to face within our associations and in our lifetime. You will look back and recognize that it either knocked you out and it was never the same or you came out of it by punching through and in better shape than before. It's time for us all in the nonprofit, in the association, and in the small business space to get tougher. Here is a personal take how to get tough and come out of this stronger on the other end of the pandemic: I have developed a daily Power Five list, a list of items I must do every day. Some of them are business related, some of them are not. For example, my current list includes the following: read scripture, work out, say I love you to my daughters and my wife, send a thank you note, and contact 20 associations. I try to do those things every single day. Some days I win, some days I lose. It's not a to do list, it's a Power Five list that helps me stay focused on reaching personal and professional goals and live a better life. It also helps me stay productive. I got this from Andy Frisella, who's a leadership guru, and I encourage you to follow him. The other thing I want you to think about is how to measure yourself every single day. It's very difficult, in this day and age when days and weeks blend into each other, to measure yourself every single day and share that measurement with someone else. Measuring and tracking your progress towards goals is more important than ever.   And here are my recommendations for associations: There are a number of things that will happen in the next several months, if they're not already happening in your association right now regarding membership, events, and sponsorships.   Membership Membership recruitment, engagement and retention will be – for the foreseeable future – the key revenue driver for associations. Most trade associations are generating somewhere around 60% of their revenue from membership. That is at risk at a greater rate than it was before. I don't think we can expect a 90% retention rate in 2021. Some associations tend to be good at recruitment, engagement and retention but often not all three. We've got biases and we have strengths. My point is, we should be good at all of those now. Membership Recruitment Have a specific plan, activity, and pipelines each week. Feel free to refer to past episodes to hear about membership recruitment! Membership Engagement Have a full year, step-by-step plan and start slow. Provide your members value and then continue to build it up as they become active in your association. As you know, activity and involvement in the association improves the probability of retention. Membership Retention Consistently building the case for the value of your association, over time, is important because when the invoice drops for renewal – regardless of the economic environment – they're going to say yes. Never balk from renewing a member, even if times are bad. Use the right tone but renew them. Hey, I'm a business, too. I would never think about skipping invoicing a client for t...