RSC membership year runs from January to December with all membership payments due by the 1st January each year. Members are given a six month grace period and are considered to be lapsed at the end of June if they have not made the due payment. Typically, 80% of members pay their fees by February leaving 20% still unpaid in March.
RSC commissioned Chord to deliver a campaign with the following objectives to:
Following extensive briefing on RSC’s membership benefits and having gained approval for a detailed campaign brief, Chord set to work.
In total, 2,999 members, associate members’ and students contact details were provided by RSC and then prepared by Chord for calling.
The agreed approach required Chord to:
In addition, a further 341 members expressed their intention to renew.
To achieve this, Chord:
It became apparent during the campaign that a significant proportion of members preferred to complete their renewal online. Members did express their pleasure at receiving a reminder, as this did prompt them to renew.
Three of the main reasons given for non-renewal prior to the call included: forgetfulness; awaiting pay day; that the members’ employer was making payment and that it was in hand. For members who had finally decided not to renew following due consideration, reasons included: leaving the profession; not using membership benefits fully; maternity/paternity leave.
A significant indirect benefit of the campaign was that 19% of members’ contact data was updated.
Recommendations made by Chord included:
The renewals generated by the Chord team exceeded our expectations. In fact they were nearly doubled. We were particularly impressed by Chord’s detailed preparation. Their professionalism and personalised handling of our members gives us the confidence to consider them as a valuable and complementary extension of our own team.Hilary WhiteMembership Strategy Lead, Royal Society of Chemistry