Report of the MCAA Membership Committee
Words: Dick DentingerCurrently the association is conducting a membership drive to build our membership
base. Since the beginning of the "Member-Get-A-Member" which began at the beginning of
the fiscal year on July 1, the MCAA has recruited 19 new contractors, 2 new national
associates and 2 chapter associates for a total of $13,125. Our goal for the entire
year is $75,000 or 150 new members. We hope that this trend will continue and we will
reach our new member goal.
Renewal dues are coming in as budgeted as we expect to receive $472,140 in renewal
dues which represents a 92% renewal rate.
"MEMBER-GET-A-MEMBER" Contest
Members who get credit for recruiting a new member will be eligible to win an all
expenses paid trip to the 2004 Masonry Showcase. For every member that they recruit,
their name goes into a drawing for the trip. The larger the member that they recruit,
the more times that their name goes into the drawing. Although it has been slow and
only a few members have qualified for the drawing, there have been an increasingly
larger group of members asking if contractors in their area are members. We anticipate
more members becoming involved in the contest and help with new member recruitment.
Even after the contest ends, we will continue to make a strong push for new members
REVAMPED PROSPECTIVE KIT
We have recently developed a new membership brochure that gives an overview of the
MCAA and why a non-member should join. In addition, we redesigned the association
folder to give it a fresh look and make it more generic. This will allow the folder to
be used both by our Washington office when distributing issue papers as well as in
general presentations to customers not just in membership recruitment which the last
folder limited us to. Lastly, the membership video that we have used for years with
new member recruitment is badly outdated. The programs and services currently offered
by the MCAA is not reflected in this video. The committee will look and revamping the
prospective member video.
MEMBERSHIP ADVERTISEMENTS
We have looked to place a greater focus in using Masonry Magazine to promote
membership through a series of ads to non-members. Currently the association ads lack
the recruitment focus that we believe that is needed. In addition, we will place more
association news about committees, board and staff activities to build the
associations image. Lastly, we will ask the President and Editor to periodically write
pro-membership editorials.
WEB-SITE
A revamped web-site will greatly aid the association in building our image as we as
reaching out to non-members in a very economical way. The expanded useful information
and links on our web-site will educate nonmembers about the benefits of the MCAA. In
the coming months, members will receive even greater benefits from free information
made available only to members which will help our retention numbers.
NEWSLETTERS
Consistent communication to our members is vital to our retention efforts. We have
implemented a twice per month e-mail newsletter that goes out to our members (those
members that do not have an e-mail will receive it by fax). The newsletters will vary
in topic. These newsletters will keep the members connected with the fast changes that
are beginning to occur with the MCAA.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
I wish to thank the following members for their service to the committee. They are
Greg Schuerman, Bruce Seling, Barry Clements, Todd Williams, Guy Tedesco, Justin
Breithaup, and Brian Carney.