Member Benefits and Programs


Planning new programs and benefits should be focused on accomplishing your affiliate's strategic plan. You can find more details on strategic and committee planning here. Encourage your volunteers to come up with new ideas within their committees and present them to the board as fully formed ideas.

To help with consistency and evaluation by the board, consider the use of a project proposal template. You can find examples below which can also be downloaded on the sidebar. Please also reference the webinar recording and slides in the sidebar to walk you through the entire process.

New Member Benefit Proposal Templates 
Use these templates when evaluating a new member benefit offering. Your template will provide consistency in tracking new ideas proposed to the board. It will also ensure all new ideas are thoroughly reviewed against the same standards. The data provided should provide all of the information needed for the board to make an educated decision about the request.  

The form should be completed by the volunteer, chair, or committee proposing the new offering.  The board should determine a reasonable response time that all proposals will be reviewed, and the decision will be communicated back to the submitter. We recommend you first have your finance committee evaluate the financial feasibility of the new offering and submit their recommendation to the full board for review and discussion. 

The categories below are a guide and should be adapted to fit the needs of each affiliate. There are two formats you can utilize or request a copy of the proposal survey form: https://forms.gle/WD7mD7AEGU2jsewC6.  

Example 1: 

Committee/Volunteer: 

 

Date: 

 

Title of New Program: 

 

Overview of Program: 

 

Program Goals and Objectives: 

 

Strategic Plan Goal Program Ties to: 

 

Please include links to supporting document used to design project (environmental scans, surveys, etc.) 

 

Project Timeline (include deadlines of all major steps): 

 

Link to Proposed Budget (revenue and expenses): 

 

Method of Evaluation: 

 

Long Term Projection to become revenue neutral: 

 

 

Example 2: 
<name of new offering> 
<committee/individual presenting the offering> 
<date> 

Situation: Explain the current environment, challenge, or opportunity where the new offering will make an impact.  

Objective: Define the objective of the offering and what it intends to provide for members or the organization. 

Strategy: How will this new offering play into the strategic direction of the organization. 

Tactic: Define the offering. 

Narrative: Explain the details of the offering. Include the resources needed to create/implement the offering, the timeline, communication plan, the individuals/committee responsible for the work, etc. 

Rules: Define the parameters of the program. Include who will use/benefit from the offering, if there is a timeline associated with the offering, any required criteria or approve, etc. 

Budget: Include the proposed budget requirement. 

Timeline: Include a specific timeline for development, launch, and execution of the offering. 

Membership Collaboration between Affiliates 

Affiliates may choose to collaborate to allow membership to both affiliates. This should be especially considered for affiliates who have large districts near the border of other affiliates as districts are not bound by state boarders and may include two affiliates (example: Washington DC with members in both Virginia and Maryland or New York and New Jersey). This has the potential to be a win-win; members would appreciate the flexibility and affiliate membership numbers and revenue could benefit.

First steps 

  • Discuss thoroughly with your current leadership.
    • What would the perks and price be? 
    • Would these members be allowed to vote or run for office? 
    • How would their contact information be stored, who would be responsible? 
    • Is there already a “supporter” membership category? How will this collaboration effect it? 
    • Consider surveying the membership to determine if the members would take advantage of this collaboration. 
  • Approach the other affiliate’s leadership about potential collaboration in an informal setting. This could be at FNCE® or at an affiliate event.
  • If the other affiliate is interested, agree upon the appropriate next step. This could be a written proposal to the other affiliate, agreeing to participate in a meeting, conference call with their leadership.

What to discuss 

  • How the affiliates line up, is the membership year the same?
  • If a “Supporter” category already exists, will there be a discount?
  • Will this collaboration include anything beyond membership, such as sharing technology, newsletter articles, representation at the affiliate annual meeting, joint receptions annual conferences and events, sharing webinars, etc.?
  • How will this be communicated and promoted to the membership?

Working out the details 

  • Anticipate the process taking about 6-12 months and several communications to work out the details.
  • It should start at the beginning of the membership year.
  • Consider assigning a taskforce with members from each affiliate to work out the details and present to the leadership, this will save the leaderships meeting time to discuss other important topics.

Final thoughts 

  • Update your bylaws, website, and any promotional materials to reflect this new membership category.

Templates

Webinars

Implementing New Benefits and Programs
View Recording   |   View Slides
Leverage survey and evaluation results along with your strategic plan to create new ideas for member benefits and programs. Learn how to create a pilot plan for new programs, evaluate results, and decide how best to move forward. This webinar focuses on project management strategies to help ensure the highest chance of success for new programs.

Collecting and Leveraging Member Feedback
View Recording
Understand how to effectively engage with your membership to collect useful data for decision making. Learn how to use this information to guide your affiliate's operations

Supporter and Subscriber Programs

Academy members who wish to join a second affiliate: Supporters 
Academy members can formally join only one affiliate due to the rebate format and database infrastructure. That being said, each affiliate can decide to create a ‘supporter’ program, which allows members to join their affiliate as a secondary member.  An Affiliate can charge an additional fee to cover the costs of these services.  According to Academy and affiliate bylaws, these ‘supporters’ would not be eligible for elected office or to vote in affiliate elections.  

How to organize the programs 
First, the benefits and opportunities provided to subscribers and supporters must be determined. For example, the affiliate could offer: 

  • Receipt of mailings (newsletters and other special notices) 
  • Attendance at meetings/seminars (a subscriber rate might be considered between member and non-member) 
  • Opportunity to serve (by appointment/non-voting) on committees and task forces 
  • Access to member events and webinars 

Next, a subscriber and supporters dues collection system should be established. This includes developing an application, a process for processing dues, and adding subscriber information to your database.  

The affiliate Board should review/approve ‘Subscribers’ and ‘Supporters’. Status should be renewed annually according to the Academy and Affiliate’s membership year. 

What to charge 
Dues should be set at a level that covers the costs of additional personnel and computer programming expenses needed to establish and maintain a subscriber and/or supporter database as well as any extra mailings or printings. 

Individuals not eligible for Academy membership: Subscribers 

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recognizes that Affiliate and/or district dietetic associations frequently are interested in interacting with individuals who are not eligible for Academy membership.  Independent of the Academy, the Affiliate and/or district dietetic association may choose to develop a ‘subscriber’ program for individuals ineligible for Academy membership.  These people could not be accepted for membership in the Affiliate or district associations, but could be granted “subscriber” status.  According to Academy and affiliate bylaws, subscribers could not vote in elections, hold office, serve as a committee chair, and receive recognition or Academy member benefits and services.