13 Membership Drive Ideas for Events & More (Plus How to Run a Campaign!)

If you run a membership organization, you know how important it is to engage and retain your members. After all, members are the lifeblood of your organization: they support your organization’s mission, attend events, and form your community! 

But as your organization evolves, you’ll inevitably find yourself asking the big question: How do I grow my membership base? There are many strategies for attracting new members over time, but if you want to see a boost ASAP, the best thing you can do is start brainstorming membership drive ideas!

Ready to launch your membership campaign, but wondering where to start? We’ve got you covered with membership drive examples, marketing tips, and the event tech to make it all a breeze.

A membership drive is a targeted campaign that’s designed to bring in new members to your organization! Membership recruitment campaigns are most often run by associations, clubs, and nonprofits who want to broaden their reach and power up their dues-based revenue.

No matter which membership drive ideas you lead with, a huge part of these campaigns comes down to marketing! Successful drives highlight the value of your organization’s benefits and services across all platforms and inspire people to get involved.

What are the best times to host a membership drive? You can run focused membership drive campaigns:

Additionally, you could hold a membership drive to target specific demographics (hello, Gen Z!).

A membership drive will encourage new members to join all at once and tap into your existing membership base to reach fresh audiences. No matter what kind of organization you run, a membership drive can be tailored to fit your needs and messaging. And if you’ve got an upcoming event, that’s the perfect time to start recruiting new members. 

Membership drives work best when you’ve got a solid strategy in place. Here’s how to organize and execute your campaign in 9 simple steps!

A membership recruitment campaign is meant to reach a whole bunch of people, so it doesn’t make sense for one person to do the heavy lifting alone. As you prepare to brainstorm membership drive ideas, set up a meeting with your:

Most crucially, get some perspectives of people who spend the most time in direct communication with members. These folks will have the clearest idea of what members have raved about in the past, which makes for a great foundation.