Listen Up! Series on Member Needs & Satisfaction #3: Effective Communication a Bellwether for Member Satisfaction

 

"What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate"

If you take a minute to think about it, communication is at the root of so many of the world’s problems. Over time, lack of communication and miscommunication has led to many a sore back from sleeping on the couch. It has made people miss appointments and has left them waiting awkwardly in the wrong restaurants. It has battered and broken up the most iron-clad of relationships and caused people to lose their jobs. It has created civil and social strife and it has even led to and exacerbated wars.

Well, communication issues are also a major challenge for a lot of not-for-profits.

ARC clients are all over the place in this particular area, with communication satisfaction scores ranging from failure to excellence. One common trend, however, is that satisfaction with not-for-profit communication is typically a bellwether for performance in other key areas.

Case in Point:

A few years ago, we conducted a member satisfaction study for a regional industry association. The board and staff were devastated by the results: Members had awarded the association a dismal 42% in overall satisfaction with failing and borderline grades in every area, most notably communication.

To their credit, the board and staff took this feedback to heart and we helped them to create a strategy designed to better address member needs across several key areas. In particular, the organization focused on responding to member feedback in the communication department by providing them with more information and streamlining its delivery through a regular publication.

After taking these two relatively simple steps, the association saw a vast improvement. When they conducted the survey again two years later, they saw an overall increase in member satisfaction of a remarkable 19%. While there were significant improvements across the board, the biggest jump was in member’s sense that the organization communicated effectively. This particular benchmark had increased by a whopping 26%!

While this particular instance is the most extreme example we have seen to date, many ARC clients have seen a marked improvement in member satisfaction after refocusing their communication efforts. On the flip side, we have also seen organizations fail to act on member feedback in this area, with the opposite effect.

So, Why Does Communication Have Such a Big Impact on Member Satisfaction?

It’s actually pretty simple: People pass judgement on what they know. Where information is lacking, people will then pass judgement based on what they perceive.

An association can be doing all kinds of things right but if they’re not letting their stakeholders know what they’re doing or what progress they are making, their efforts are futile. The perception will be that the association isn’t doing anything at all, which inevitably leads to decreased satisfaction. In our experience, not-for-profits with high levels of satisfaction in the area of communication provide their members with the right amount of information to:

• Know what’s happening in the organization

• Hold the organization accountable for its performance

• Know how their membership dollars are being spent

• Be aware of the organization’s goals and accomplishments

Some of the Benefits of Good Communication

Used properly, good communication can help to shape and improve member’s perception of the organization. For example, an association can help to address a common perception that their membership fees are too high by showing members the “bang” they are getting for their “buck,” and by telling them where their dollars are being spent.

Effective communication also has the power to boost member engagement through an increased sense of transparency: Members who feel that they know what’s really going on within the organization are more likely to feel ‘closer’ and more vested in what’s happening.

Further to this, many of our clients have found that simply conducting regular member satisfaction surveys and following these up with information on how member input is being used to drive the organization’s agenda has really contributed to the member’s sense that they influence the direction and priorities of the association.

Communication is a Balancing Act

It is really important to stress that improving communication does not necessarily mean that an organization needs to communicate more. In fact, we have seen cases where clients have actually seen satisfaction go down because members feel they ‘over communicate.’

Good communication is about finding the right balance of the right amount of information and sending it using the right channels. Doing your homework to find out what types of information your members want, how they want it delivered and how frequently they want to receive it should be an important first step in any not-for-profit communication strategy.

If you are interested in more information about member satisfaction research or strategic planning for your organization, please feel free to contact us directly.

Other posts in the ARC Listen Up! Series on Member Needs and Satisfaction, along with some additional information about this research can be found here