Sarah,
My experience with this is it is a difficult exercise unless you can
actually track your member entry and spend within your organization. When
we first started this we included all costs. My list for the first business
plan included under marketing costs: brochure (design & printing), signage,
venue staff training, membership drives, advertising, direct marketing,
alliance marketing and market research. Under Administration costs: cards,
magazine production, mailing costs (general and mag), stationery, Raiser's
Edge data base costs, affiliation subscriptions, courier services, sundry
expenses, and salaries for two of us in the office. As the number of
memberships increase the cost of marketing per membership falls, but the
balance is that administration costs are more likely to rise.
Because we are multi-venue, and only one venue has a good tracking system,
we then did some market research on the member spend at each venue in the
cafes and shops and the discounts offered on programs and the actual entry
being free. This formula provided us with a dollar figure that was later
independently confirmed with an outside cost benefit analysis that came out
very favourably for the membership program. In our first year of operation
for a $90.00 family membership the costs were around $23 for servicing.
This worked for us with a very large membership (around 13,000 memberships
and 50,000 people) because over 87% of our members were families. The two
year membership at $144.00 worked even better.
Just when you think you have it all right - the government drops the entry
fees for children and concessions, and slashes adult entry. Great for our
museum - lots of people coming through the doors, not just members. Back to
the drawing board for us!
If there are specifics you would like, please contact me at
[log in to unmask]
Cheers!
-----Original Message-----
From: Sarah Monnat [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, 11 September 2003 11:24 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: cost of servicing a member
We are trying to calculate the approximate cost of serving a member for one
year. Does anyone know what the industry norms are for what is included in
the cost of servicing a member? Would we count cost of membership cards,
decals, etc., etc.? How would we account for free admission, program
discounts, merch discounts, etc.?
Thank You,
Sarah Monnat
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