Report of the MCAA Membership Committee
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Multiple issues of Masonry magazine will feature membership and recruitment articles.
Member Renewals
As of September 30, $574,000 in member renewal dues had been collected for this fiscal year- 103% of our budgeted goal! After two invoice statements we have exceeded our budget, but we still have outstanding dues payments, which we will continue to pursue. To encourage payment from the remaining members, another invoice was issued in the beginning of November. After this response is logged, we will then draft a letter encouraging remittance to be sent by Treasurer John Smith to accompany the next round of invoices.
New Member Recruitment
As of October 30, $44,000 in new member dues had been collected for this fiscal year, including 45 new contractor members. This monetary amount is vastly ahead of budget to date by $19,000(!) and 58% of the budget goal for the year ($76,000). If we continue on this pace, our year's new member dues will total over $120,000. To further increase membership, the following initiatives are being conducted:
- Throughout the year, multiple issues of Masonry magazine will feature membership with new advertisements, an application, and often the President's Message or an article addressing recruitment.
- A membership application published in the Masonry Showcase Attendee Brochure to encourage non-members to take advantage of member discounts.
- Membership information will be sent with any resource orders mailed from MCAA headquarters to non-members.
- Personal letter sent from Jerry Painter, Florida State Chairman, to all contractor members of the Masonry Association of Florida asking them to join the MCAA.
- General leads receiving continual follow up phone calls and mailings.
Most significantly, we are taking a new approach to recruiting by hiring an outside marketing firm to conduct member recruitment calls. A test of two companies was done this summer, and through their efforts and our follow up, we gained over 10 new members. The initiative paid for itself!
In October, the project was granted to the more successful of the two companies, Edge Teleservices. Edge works with many associations nationwide for this type of marketing. We gave them a list of over 10,000 mason contractors from across the country. We worked with Edge to develop a script that acts as a survey about immigration issues, and then leads into information about the MCAA's work on the topic. Edge will try to sign members up over the phone with credit card information, but if they need more information, they are referred to the MCAA staff. The staff then sends materials and follows up with phone calls.
The committee has slated $15,000 in the 2006-07 budget for this effort. Although this is a dramatic increase in the Membership Committee expense column, new member dues will more than make up for it. The committee has budgeted an increase of over $20,000 in new member dues over last year, mainly based on this initiative.
Edge has started their effort, and they give us daily reports as to how the survey questions are answered, who is interested in follow up materials and who has joined. As of October 30, we have gotten 4 new members and over 150 new member leads out of the first 2,500 people they called.
Premier Suppliers Program
This program is now in its second year, and industry suppliers have responded very well to it. In this program, we reward suppliers for advertising, sponsoring, exhibiting and being members of the MCAA. At convention in March, we presented our first Supplier of the Year award to the Quikrete Companies, for their contribution of the most funds to the MCAA. Many companies are in the running for the award this year, so be sure to find out who it is in February. The MCAA encourages its members to review the magazine ads and website information we post about each suppliers "Star Status" in making purchasing decisions.
One added feature of the program this year is for Four Star Suppliers. Each month, the Masonry Messenger email/fax newsletter features a paragraph submitted by one of these suppliers. It provides extra promotion of the companies that contribute the most to the MCAA's efforts.