Overview
Membership Development
Toll Free Programs
Grassroots

Overview
Phones are an excellent means to personalize the relationship with your members and keep them updated about important association issues. Phones compliment other member communication methods, including mail, e-mail and websites. Whether is updating member records, soliciting feedback, confirming attendance at the annual meeting, or driving traffic to your website, phones are the best two-way communication method to stay in touch with all of your members. [TOP]

Membership Development
Membership acquisition, renewal, satisfaction and upgrade are at the heart of any successful association. Membership development is all about two-way communication…and phones are the best way to ensure personal and high quality results.

Cost containment is an under-appreciated aspect of all membership acquisition programs. CapAd Communications has developed analytical tools to monitor the costs of obtaining new members to help with the management of all its new member programs. We emphasize targeting, testing, and low-entry costs. Phone programs work extremely well with direct mail, fax by phone, and e-mail.

Experience has taught us that membership renewal programs must come in several forms to attract the attention of members. An existing member may respond to a direct personal appeal much better than to direct mail, and vice versa. Phones provide the two-way communications necessary to answer questions and re-activate lapsed members.

Association programs that reach out to members are more important than ever for membership retention. Members want value for their dues. CapAd Communications has developed excellent outbound phone programs to measure member satisfaction, guide new product or service development, and provide immediate communication with members on critical issues. CapAd Communications also provides effective inbound phone programs to give an association a real membership presence using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology.

Many associations are finding their growth area to be in membership upgrades …getting existing members to participate more in association activities. CapAd Communications has an innovative program to capture member e-mail addresses, helping to immediately save postage and printing costs. Outreach programs include member solicitations for political action committee or capital improvements, sale of association products or services, and issue outreach. [TOP]

Toll-Free Programs
Inbound programs help establish an association’s presence among its members by giving them a phone number to call for answers, services or needed products. An association must be useful to survive and toll-free connections for members to obtain help are one means to achieve that objective.

Live Operator Programs
Use of live operators for incoming calls from members provides the human touch and the ability to respond to questions. CapAd Communications has a variety of toll-free programs that provide 24-hour coverage and 7-days a week service. Membership renewal and upgrades, sale of periodicals or other materials, and attendance or sale of exhibit space at conventions are among the types of programs we offer.

Interactive Voice Response
An exciting development for association communications is the use of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems. IVR technology provides an association with a wealth of automated help service for its members making better use of the toll-free number. Members use their phone keypad to access information, update records, and make patch-through calls to legislators.

IVR systems are easy to maintain and update onsite. IVR technology allows you to cut costs while increasing member services.

CapAd Communications can help you create an IVR environment for your toll-free number that meets the needs of your membership, including:

• Membership and legislative updates posted daily
• Frequently asked questions help area
• Update personal records using password protection
• Member surveys
• Donations for capital improvements and political action committees
• Member recruitment
• Patch-through calls to legislators to encourage members to contact their representatives on key issues
• Overflow and night/weekend coverage to supplement live operators [TOP]

Grassroots
The ability to have a positive impact on proposed local, state or federal legislation is an important attribute of any association. To have an impact beyond lobbyist efforts and political contributions, an association must organize its most active members to get involved in the legislative process.

CapAd Communications can help you communicate better and quicker with members. We can make it easier for your members to contact their legislative representatives and help organize local and state affiliates to turn members out to vote on important issues.

Strong communication to members that is timely is the goal of any grassroots effort. We’ve developed programs to improve communication with members, including acquiring their e-mail addresses and their preferences for receiving association messages. When its necessary to let legislators know how your members feel on pending legislation, CapAd Communications can assist with patch-through programs to link members and legislators directly…immediately. [TOP]