In Community Brands newly released 2018 Member Education and Career Development Report we’ve uncovered a shift in why members are joining professional organizations. Fifty-one percent of members surveyed report they joined their current organizations for benefits like continuing education and networking. This number has increased by 9 percentage points since our 2016 Member Engagement Study was conducted. The percentage of members who report joining organizations out of a sense of professional responsibility has also dropped 5 percentage points since 2016.
Given this shift, it’s important for associations to examine whether their offerings and services are matching what is most valued by members. In the context of professional development benefits, 85 percent of members say they want their organization to provide continuing education opportunities. Members aren’t after just one learning method however, they want all the options. Across the generations, members are craving variety and accessibility in learning formats. Your members are multimodal and are interested in an array of education mediums.
For associations, this can be a tall order to deliver. The first step to meeting this need is to reflect on the education you are already delivering and determine what additional learning formats may be beneficial to add. Here are some options to consider:
- Live stream your seminars or conferences to extend the reach of your content and meet the needs of those members who can’t attend on site
- Create SCORM courses that bring experiential and hands-on training online
- Record your top in-person events and offer them as rebroadcasts, as well as on-demand, in both streaming form and as an audio only download
- Incorporate personalized learning path recommendations to guide members in their education journey and help them advance in their careers
- Break down longer courses into short, nano clips to deliver on the just-in-time preferences of today’s learners
- Create a webinar series with your most popular speaker allowing them to present from the comfort of their own home, while still engaging members with functionality like Q&A, polling, chat, and more
The key to providing a comprehensive learning program is to leverage technology partners with a system and services that make it easier to break down content, offer a variety of learning modes and formats and deliver content through an organized, customized course library.
For more on increasing value to your members with robust education options dive into the full report, and check out our infographic …
