Email marketing for associations, trade guilds and professional bodies
Newsletters, meeting notices and membership renewals: how to use email to retain your members
Email marketing for associations is the use of email to inform, convene and build loyalty among the members of an association, a trade guild or a professional body. Its goal is not to sell a product. It aims to get members to take part, value what they receive and renew their membership.
For many associations, email is the main channel for reaching their members. It reaches everyone, costs little and leaves a record of every notice.
How is it different from commercial email marketing?
A company writes to customers and potential buyers. An association writes to people who already belong to it and who pay to be members.
| Commercial email | Email to members | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Sell | Inform, engage and retain |
| Recipients | Customers and subscribers | Members, registered professionals and guild members |
| Typical messages | Offers and launches | Meeting notices, services and industry alerts |
| Key metric | Sales | Participation and membership renewal |
| Tone | Promotional | Institutional and approachable |
That is why useful emails work better than promotional ones. Members open what saves them time or gives them something they can’t find anywhere else.
Which emails can an association send to its members?
Welcome for new members. Explain what the membership fee includes, how to access the services and who to contact. You can send it automatically with an autoresponder, just like any company’s welcome email.
Member newsletter. A regular roundup of industry news, regulatory changes, activities and the organization’s achievements. You’ll find more ideas in our post about the newsletter.
General meeting notices. Agenda, date, venue or link, and how to delegate a vote. Check that your bylaws allow meetings to be called by email.
Events and training. Workshops, courses, conferences and webinars. Follow the sequence of a save the date, the invitation and the reminders.
Membership renewal. Reminders before the due date, with the amount and payment method. In every reminder, recall what the member has received during the year.
Urgent industry alerts. Legal changes, official deadlines or grants with a closing date. These are the most valued emails and the ones opened most often.
Annual calendar for communicating with members
In an association, a calendar helps you avoid forgetting sends and overloading members in the same weeks.
| When | Goal | |
|---|---|---|
| On joining | Welcome and services guide | Getting members to use what they pay for |
| Every month | Newsletter | Keeping in touch |
| 3-4 weeks before the general meeting | Meeting notice and agenda | Meeting the deadlines and securing attendance |
| Before each event | Save the date, invitation and reminders | Filling the places |
| 30 and 7 days before the due date | Membership renewal | Preventing members from leaving because they forgot |
| At the end of the year | Summary of what was achieved | Reinforcing the value of membership |
You can see a complete example in our email schedule for a call for applications.
Keep your members informed with ease
Newsletters, meeting notices and membership reminders from a single platform.
How do you segment members?
Not all members need the same messages. The most useful segmentation in an association uses these criteria:
Member type. Full, associate, student, honorary or corporate member.
Industry, specialty or region. A professional body can split members by specialty. A trade guild, by province or by company size.
Membership status. Up to date, pending renewal or recently lapsed.
Participation. Members who attend events and open emails versus inactive members.
With this data, you can notify only the people affected by a change. You can also prepare a campaign to re-engage those who haven’t opened anything in months.
What does the GDPR say about emails to members?
Emails tied to the membership relationship are based on that same relationship: meeting notices, fees, services and notices from the organization. You don’t need to ask for separate permission to send them.
Things change with offers from sponsors or third parties. For those messages, ask for consent separately and offer an easy way to unsubscribe.
If you collect contacts who aren’t members yet, use a form with double opt-in. You’ll find more detail in our post about the GDPR. If you have specific questions, consult your organization’s data protection officer.
Metrics for measuring communication with members
These are the metrics that say the most about an association’s communication.
Open rate. It shows whether the subject line and sender inspire trust. Read our post about the open rate.
Clicks. They show which services and content are of most interest.
Event registrations. They compare what is sent with actual attendance.
Renewals after reminders. This is the metric that best sums up whether your communication works.
Unsubscribes and complaints. If they go up, review your frequency and content.
Common mistakes
Only sending emails when payment is due. If association members only receive fee reminders, they associate your emails with paying.
Sending everything to everyone. A notice for one specialty doesn’t interest the rest and increases unsubscribes.
Newsletters that are too long. A short summary with links is better than a twenty-page attached document.
Neglecting the list. Check bounces and update contact details at every renewal. List hygiene improves deliverability.
How Mailrelay helps you
With Mailrelay, your association designs its newsletters with the editor, segments members with custom fields and automates welcome emails and reminders. Plus, you can see who opens and who clicks in each send.
The free account includes up to 80,000 emails a month and 20,000 contacts, with human support by chat, ticket and phone. If you manage another type of organization, also see email marketing for public administrations or for training centers.
Get started for free with your association
Up to 80,000 emails a month and 20,000 contacts, with human support in English.
Frequently Asked Questions
These are the most common questions about communicating with members by email.
What is email marketing for associations?
The use of email to inform, convene and build loyalty among the members of an association, a trade guild or a professional body.
Once a month is usually enough. Urgent notices and meeting notices are sent separately, when needed.
Can a general meeting be called by email?
Yes, if the organization’s bylaws allow it. It’s a good idea to keep a copy of the send and the list of recipients.
Do I need my members’ consent to send them emails?
Not for messages that are part of the membership relationship. Yes for commercial offers from sponsors or third parties.
How can email reduce member cancellations?
Send useful content all year round, remind members of the services included in their fee and give advance notice of renewal.