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Try the PropFuel Experience
In under 5 minutes, see exactly how PropFuel works. Provide your email below and pretend you're a member of our Association of Awesome Associations (AAA for short). Then check your email to get started.
In under 5 minutes, see exactly how PropFuel works. Provide your email below and pretend you're a member of our Association of Awesome Associations (AAA for short). Then check your email to get started.
Dave: Ashley’s in Vegas at her sister’s wedding, so who knows what’s going on with her. Recruiting student members—yes, Liz, good one. Everything around student engagement and membership retention has a theme. Keep the ideas coming. Meanwhile, I’ll turn it over to my amazing team, Melissa and Megan.
Melissa: Thanks for joining! If you want a structured webinar, there’s one next week on lapsed members win-back, but today is a roundtable—open discussion, sharing ideas. If you have questions, unmute and ask, raise your hand, or drop them in chat. Let’s keep it conversational. We’ll start with some chat prompts, but we’re not tied to slides.
Megan: Melissa, we can see bars on your slides.
Melissa: Thanks, better now?
Megan: Yeah, fixed.
Suzanne: I’m with Melissa—PC users all the way! Mac users are missing out.
Melissa: I had a Mac for years, but I prefer PC.
Megan: Didn’t mean to start a war.
Suzanne: No backspace key? How do you even work?
Melissa: You guys are the best. Vote PC vs. Mac in chat. Also, what’s your goal today? If you could take one thing away, what would it be?
Chat responses:
Love this! Keep sharing ideas. If you need to mute, please do—we love dogs, but we might not understand them.
Megan: Several clients on today have done lapsed member win-back campaigns. What’s your biggest takeaway?
Liz: Our results with PropFuel have been unprecedented. The engagement format makes a huge difference. Turning broadcast messages into questions gets far better results. Also, don’t be afraid to offer incentives like discounts—we use them for recruitment, why not for renewal?
Megan: Thanks, Liz. Justin in chat says they found they don’t need to offer discounts—just asking, “Did you know your membership lapsed? Want to rejoin?” gets responses. Suzanne, you realized your renewal process was too complicated?
Suzanne: Yes! PropFuel changed the game.
Melissa: Love that. Also, don’t do this alone—use blueprints. If you haven’t tried them yet, play around. No commitment, just test them. There are over 20 blueprints now, including ones for renewal and win-back.
Megan: Let’s discuss grace periods. What’s your current process? How long do you wait before contacting lapsed members?
Chat responses:
Barclay: We used to ignore lapsed members. We didn’t even tell them they were in a grace period, which made it ineffective.
Melissa: Great insights! Now, let’s hear from the Washington Society of CPAs.
Monette: We implemented our win-back campaign two years ago and made updates last year, including ChatGPT to refine language. We also added humor—our later-stage emails read like a breakup letter: “We haven’t heard from you, where do you stand?” It’s helped us get responses, even if just to clarify that they’re retiring or need hardship rates.
Amanda: What happens if someone chooses, “Please resign my membership”?
Monette: We ask for a reason. If needed, staff follows up.
Suzanne: That’s the beauty of PropFuel. Before, we had no idea why people weren’t renewing. Now we get immediate insights.
Melissa: Automating early touchpoints lets staff focus only on members needing direct attention. Efficiency is key.
Megan: OSCPA had three extra check-ins in their renewal campaign and won back 12% of lapsed members. AAP nurtured members who said they’d renew but hadn’t yet, sending a reminder. This kind of follow-up maintains engagement without feeling like a hard sell.
Dave: Asking “Are you planning to renew?” gives valuable context—did they miss the email? Are they undecided? This method gives clarity.
Melissa: What’s your process for terminating lapsed members?
Chat responses:
Melissa: TIA has an automated campaign through iMIS asking, “Did you know your membership expired?” It helps flag primary contacts and keeps the right people engaged.
Megan: What strategies have you found successful for win-back campaigns?
Chat responses:
Barclay: Our biggest breakthrough was simply trying a win-back campaign! 61% of lapsed members didn’t know they had lapsed. We even reached members lapsed for 3-5 years and got responses.
Michael: If someone can’t afford dues, I sometimes give them a free 2-3 months. It builds goodwill.
Megan: AMA’s sequence campaign sends three check-ins over 2.5 months, asking, “Why are you hesitating to rejoin?” It converted 35% of members.
Kristie: TXCPA did a one-day flash sale with Halloween branding, and it was huge—87 paid renewals in one day.
Dave: This campaign blended great design with a simple CTA. Well done.
Megan: AANP’s campaign won back 5,000 members in 2023 using a summer discount offer.
Liz: Our members are deadline-sensitive—“Last chance to save” works every time.
Heather: NYSRA did quarterly win-back emails and got a 65% conversion rate—simple, direct questions work best.
Melissa: Dormant member win-back (lapsed 1+ years) needs a nurturing approach. ISTE reached out to 14,000 dormant members and got responses from 13%, gathering valuable insights.
Megan: SMS integration is another great tool. PIHRA and APA use SMS to follow up on renewals, linking directly to renewal pages.
Sebastian: We’re now adding interactive SMS campaigns, allowing members to respond to questions via text.
Dave: SMS is a great addition—affordable and effective.
Megan: Thanks for joining! The recording and slides will be on our Knowledge Base. See you next month for our student engagement roundtable.
Melissa: Thanks, everyone! Great discussion today.
