When you started your membership group or community, you probably had a vision for the impact you hoped to make. You probably set goals, perhaps created a strategic plan, and began making connections with the individuals you hoped to serve.
Now let me ask you this…
Are your goals for your membership group today the same as they were when you started? Has your approach remained unchanged?
Mine certainly hasn’t!
Can I share my story with you?
I began my program, The Intentional Nonprofit Leaders Membership Community, in June of 2020.
After working in nonprofits myself for many years and then serving as a consultant supporting nonprofit teams and leaders, I could see a clear need for support, accountability, and community in the nonprofit world.
There are many passionate nonprofit directors who had so much to offer and so much to gain through collaboration with one another! I had a desire to create a space in which these leaders could learn and share skills and strategies that would help them to be even more effective in their day-to-day work.
Let the planning begin!
- I created a detailed framework outlining the trajectory of the course content we would cover month by month.
- I put together course materials and created a Facebook group as a hub for group conversation.
- I talked with nonprofit leaders to get their input on what they believed would be helpful in a membership program.
- I began marketing my course using social media and email newsletters.
I had thought of everything…or so I thought!
- Although my program launch went fairly well, I didn’t reach my goal of 24 initial sign-ups.
- After starting to dig into the content, I realized that the initial content timelines I had created were unrealistic. The group members needed more time to process and unpack certain topics than I had originally planned for.
- Through receiving valuable feedback from participants, I learned that the most valuable part of this program was not my carefully planned lessons, but the opportunity to learn from and share with a community.
As it turns out, no amount of planning, preparation, or motivation is going to change the reality that true value is always the result of trial and error, and perfection (or any high level of success for that matter) isn’t achieved overnight.
When I look back on my membership launch, I consider it a HUGE success! Not because I had incredible numbers of participants or staggering sales conversions (I didn’t), but because I LEARNED so much from it!
As I prepare for the relaunch of my program, I’ve been able to use the information and knowledge I gathered from my initial launch to make some changes, both in how I structure the program itself and how I plan for marketing. Any opportunity for learning and future growth is a success in my book!
I’d love to hear YOUR story! Have you ever participated in a membership group? What did you learn through that process that worked best for you? Add a comment to this blog post and let me know.
If you’d like to get an inside look at the planning (or replanning in this case) of my membership group, join me on August 3rd to share YOUR ideas, thoughts, and opinions for making the Intentional Leaders Membership 2.0 even better than the first! Click here to sign up!
Article was contributed by: Maria Lees, Team Writer with Sarah Boxx
