Keeping your members engaged and loyal is crucial for any organization, whether it’s a business, non-profit, or community group.
Contrary to popular belief, it’s not just about rewarding—it’s about building meaningful connections and making your members feel valued.
In this article, we’ll go into some practical membership retention ideas to help you retain your members, from personalized outreach and content to creating a supportive community.
These tips can help you keep your members around and ensure they stay committed to your cause or brand!
What is Membership Retention & How to Calculate It
Membership retention refers to the strategies that businesses or organizations use to reduce the number of members who leave, whether they are paying or non-paying.
It applies to a wide range of situations, from keeping a newsletter subscriber list engaged, to retaining gym members, to maintaining retail memberships (like Costco or Sam’s Club), and even in organizations like churches, non-profits, or charities.
Even community projects can have members and work on keeping members engaged.
For example, we’ve had clients who are car enthusiasts pooling their money to create an app for planning meetups, making payments, and booking appointments.
This helped them retain members and build a stronger, more connected community by streamlining their processes and operations!
To calculate the membership retention rate, you can use the following formula:
Customer Retention Rate = [(Customers at the End − New Customers Added) / Customers at the Start] x 100
To calculate the percentage of original customers who stayed, subtract the number of new customers added from the total number of customers at the end.
Then, divide that result by the number of customers at the start. Finally, multiply by 100 to convert it into a percentage.
Here’s an example:
Customers at the Start: 1,000
Customers at the End: 1,100
New Customers Added: 300
Customer Retention Rate = [(1,100 – 300) / 1,000] x 100 = 80%
Alternative Membership Retention Calculation Method
We understand that some businesses may not be able to track new customers, especially if they don’t have a proper system for recruiting members. In such cases, we recommend using a simple formula to calculate your customer retention rate.
Simplified Customer Retention Rate = (Customers at the End / Customers at the Start) x 100
Example:
- Customers at the Start: 1,000
- Customers at the End: 1,100
Simplified Customer Retention Rate = (1,100 / 1,000) x 100 = 110%
If the result is more than 100%, it means your customer base has grown, though this doesn’t show how many customers are new versus retained.
If the result is less than 100%, it indicates you’re losing customers and your customer base is shrinking.
Why is Membership Retention Important?
Membership retention is vital, especially for businesses that rely on recurring revenue, such as beauty salons, restaurants, or even your most popular apps like Spotify or Netflix, not to mention, of course, gyms.
Keeping members subscribed provides predictable revenue, cash flow, and better forecasting.
Members tend to be some of the most loyal customers, engaging with the business the most—whether that’s by redeeming rewards, using perks, attending events, or participating in other activities.
These loyal members often generate additional revenue beyond just their membership fees, through things like extra services, cross-promotions, or referrals.
Plus, it’s much cheaper to retain existing members than to constantly attract new ones—about 500% cheaper.
How To Retain Your Members Through These Membership Retention Ideas
Be Proactive in Engaging Your Members
To retain your members, one of the first steps is to actively engage with them.
Many businesses assume that offering great rewards is enough to keep people around, but that’s not always the case.
With so many brands competing for attention, if yours loses its relevance, it could quickly become forgotten.
So, relying on rewards alone won’t guarantee member retention.
What can you do instead? Start by engaging with your members through email, SMS, or messaging platforms like WhatsApp.
Connect with them through surveys, share freebies or special offers, and keep them updated on what’s going on.
Social media can also be a great tool—create group chats where your brand and members can interact.
Customer-to-customer engagement is often the most genuine and can help build a stronger, more connected community.
Relevant Content is Everything
Building on the previous point, content creation plays a crucial role—especially when it’s personalized.
In addition to your usual content marketing efforts, like blog posts or social media updates, it’s important to create content tailored specifically for your members.
This could include personalized newsletters or microblogs that are exclusive to them.
If you’re not sure where to start, begin by gathering data on your members—things like their purchase history, browsing habits, and preferences.
From there, you can segment your audience and craft content that speaks directly to those groups.
For example, if you run a hotel and know which locations your members frequent, you could create a list of the best coffee spots near “Hotel A” for their next visit.
The more relevant and personalized the content, the more likely your members will stay engaged and renew—and the better the return on investment for your membership program.
Data-Driven Retention: Predicting and Preventing Churn
The previous strategies focus on engaging customers after they’ve taken action, but data-driven retention helps you predict and address potential churn before it happens.
It’s important to act before a member decides to leave. For example, if a member hasn’t engaged with your app or website for 3 to 6 months, their chances of not renewing are significantly higher—even if they’ve paid for a yearly membership.
By using your data, you can identify these inactive members and reach out to them early.
Send personalized content to reignite their interest—offer special rewards or exclusive vouchers that are easy for them to use and encourage them to engage with your brand again.
Being proactive and relevant can go a long way in keeping your members loyal.
Introduce a Decay System to Your Membership Program
Creating a sense of exclusivity within your membership program encourages members to maintain their status in order to enjoy exclusive benefits.
If you have a tiered, upgrade-based system (non-paid), consider introducing levels with clear requirements, such as minimum spending, activity days, or the number of referrals.
Members who don’t meet these criteria can be downgraded within a specific timeframe.
However, make sure to be reasonable with your limits—don’t immediately downgrade a gold member to bronze.
Provide a clear path for members to easily move up again if they fall behind.
This creates a balance between motivating them to stay active and offering a chance for redemption.
For paid subscriptions, this kind of system may not be as relevant. Instead, you can offer an auto-renewal model to make the renewal process seamless.
You can consider offering personalized incentives to encourage members to opt for auto-renewal, making it a no-brainer for them to stay with you. The goal is to make the experience as smooth and easy as possible.
Give Members Benefits & the Royal Treatment
Show your members that you truly appreciate their support by making them feel like VIPs.
The way you welcome them, thank them, and make them feel valued goes a long way in building loyalty.
It doesn’t have to be extravagant—small gestures like a personalized welcome, a drink upon arrival, a handwritten note from the manager, or even a piece of chocolate can make a big impact.
Luxury brands like Chanel, Hermes, and Dior understand this well. They offer champagne and chocolates in their VIP rooms because they know this exclusive treatment keeps customers coming back for more.
Hotels often do the same thing to make guests feel special.
If these examples aren’t relevant to your industry, something as simple as addressing customers by their names can have a significant effect.
Sources show that using a customer’s name makes them feel more connected and valued.
This kind of personalized attention also ties into your PR and branding efforts, creating a positive reputation that spreads through word of mouth.
As your satisfied members share their experiences, you’ll naturally attract more members, especially if you have a strong referral system in place.
Every customer touch point matters, and sets the stage for the next interaction.
Care About Your Members & Build a Community
To truly keep your members loyal, it’s essential to listen to them and take their feedback seriously.
Regularly ask for input through surveys, reviews, and polls—engagement is the key. When members see that their opinions are valued and acted upon, it strengthens their connection to your brand.
Customer service is a big part of this. When complaints come up, address them quickly and thoughtfully.
Members need to feel that their feedback is not just heard but also appreciated and resolved.
Beyond just handling feedback, get involved in the community your members are part of.
Observe how they communicate and share with each other. You can join or create communities on platforms like Facebook groups, Discord, Telegram, livestreams, or brand forums. These spaces help foster a sense of belonging and engagement.
Building an active, supportive community is one of the best ways to keep members engaged and encourage them to renew.
For example, hotel loyalty programs like Accor and Hilton have vibrant Facebook groups—either managed by the brand or the community—where members can share information, find deals, organize meetups, and feel more connected and valued.
Can These Strategies Be Used for Non-Profits & Organizations?
Yes, these strategies can be applied to non-profits and organizations. While some examples focus on businesses, the core ideas of engagement, personalized content, data-driven retention, and building a community are highly adaptable for non-profits.
For example, non-profits can proactively engage their supporters through emails, surveys, and social media, keeping them updated and involved.
Personalized content, on the other hand, like targeted newsletters, can help keep donors and volunteers informed about the organization’s impact.
Using data, non-profits can identify inactive members (like lapsed donors) and reach out to re-engage them.
Recognition is also key—offering exclusive benefits or simply showing appreciation, such as personalized thank-yous, can encourage continued involvement.
These strategies also help non-profits maintain long-term relationships with supporters and encourage ongoing participation!
Need More Help With Membership Retention?
If you need more help with retention for your membership program, feel free to contact us via the button below for a free consultation – no strings attached!
