In 2015, the membership of our not-for-profit organization, the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP), consisted of no more than 8,000 doctors of chiropractic (DCs). Three years later, it had grown to 22,000 DCs. How did we do it?
We aligned our membership growth strategy with a larger purpose, similar to how DCs design care plans for the millions of Americans who visit their practices around the country. We focused on the “why” more than the “what.” Here are a few tips for help you do the same:
1. Rally behind a common cause.
When a patient joins a chiropractic practice, the DC always discusses the patient’s holistic goals before designing a care plan. If the patient says he or she wants to eliminate their pain or improve their range of motion, we probe deeper. We try to learn their motivation, such as if they want to improve their golf game, lift their grandchildren without lower back discomfort or run a marathon. We get very specific discussing patients’ goals.
Likewise, when we were discussing our organization’s goals, we didn’t just focus on the “what” (membership growth). Instead, we focused on the “why” (we wanted to be part of the solution to the national opioid crisis). Fortunately, we were able to nearly triple our membership in the process by mobilizing DCs toward a common, unifying purpose.
2. Communicate specific solutions.
The nation’s opioid crisis presented a major opportunity to open the eyes of millions of patients and families to the availability of safe and effective drug-free care for pain. The nation’s attention to the opioid epidemic was heightened, but the media seemed more focused on the problem rather than potential solutions.
That is why, two years ago, we launched an awareness campaign focused on educating the public about the dangers of opioids and available options for safe, effective, drug-free care for people with low back, neck and headache pain. It had four main elements that can easily be applied to any nonprofit organization:
• Education: Press releases, white papers, e-books, infographics and flyers are widely shared educational materials that can also generate news coverage for your organization. Having leaders or representatives deliver presentations at industry-related conferences can also generate positive awareness around your organization. Lead with the “why” to be more effective.
• Proactive media outreach: Industry and consumer publications often publish bylined articles from organizational leaders depending on the topic’s relevance and reader interest. Reaching out to the editors of the publications to find out what types of articles your leader could write or be interviewed for is another effective method for generating awareness. Underscore that you represent a nonprofit organization, as editors seem more open to nonprofits (no profit motive).
• Social: Posting consistently to social media accounts, particularly Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and YouTube is crucial. These sites not only bypass the gatekeepers but are checked multiple times a day, which gives your organization even more opportunities to attract new members and sustain engagement with existing members.
• Optimized website: Creating a website without search engine optimization (SEO) is like throwing a party and forgetting to send out the invitations. How will people know about it? The answer is to increase SEO and drive traffic to your site — your virtual front door. One of the easiest ways to do this is with content, but there’s a bit of confusion over SEO and content marketing and how they fit together.
• SEO is the process of optimizing webpages and their content to be easily discoverable online by users searching for terms relevant to your website. The goal is to make it easier for search engine indexing software to find, scan and index your website.
• Content marketing focuses on creating and publishing content for a specific online audience. It is often used by organizations to attract attention, generate leads, increase credibility and engage an online community.
Invest in content marketing to help improve your website’s SEO and ultimately increase your reach to potential members. SEO is what gets visitors to your website, but relevant content is what keeps them there.
By generating fresh marketing material and securing additional media placements, your organization can create a buzz around your mission, which will ultimately encourage others to join.
3. Assess outcomes.
After a predetermined time period, DCs assess how patients are progressing toward their established goals and discuss how the care is meeting their expectations. Based on the patient’s feedback and functional outcomes, we may continue the same therapy course or adjust the plan if the patient’s progress is slower than anticipated.
Similarly, organizations ought to look beyond the obvious to align with larger issues to create a common goal among existing members and attract new ones.
Always begin with the end in mind. When you keep your nonprofit’s mission and goals top of mind, your donors will never underestimate the impact your nonprofit is making.