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Ask the former member for a second chance.
Apologize and offer to correct a problem. Make some type of
peace offering. It might be a discounted membership, or
renewing their membership so they don't lose the year they were out (especially
if this is counted towards some type of recognition).
Create a "Most Wanted" list.
Look into the
database of members, back 18 months, to find those people whose
membership is needed by the organization. The person might have key
information, or be a substantial donor. Learn as much
as you can about what they did in the organization and why they
left. Follow the steps above to bring them back.
Build a plan to routinely check on membership
turnover.
Work to understand why people leave and then put plans in
place to remove the things that drive people away.
Change tasks to meet needs.
If time
commitment is the issue for the
member, find new and innovative ways to involve them on a short term
or episodic basis, so they stay on as members.
Reprinted with peremission from
Volunteer Today http://www.volunteertoday.com
Nancy
Macduff
Nancy Macduff has 20 years
experience managing volunteers in a nonprofit organization and a
government based program. She is the author of six books on
volunteer management, and a contributor to two college text-books on
nonprofit management. She is on the faculty of Washington
State University, teaching a distance learning course on volunteer
management. Nancy currently divides her time between
Washington, DC, where she is the Senior Advisor for Education and
Training for the Points of Light Foundation, and Walla Walla, WA,
where she is president of Macduff/Bunt Associates, a training and
consulting firm.
Laura
Bunt
Laura Bunt of Walla Walla, Washington, has a Bachelors of
Arts degree in Education and has completed the course work for a
Masters Degree in Education with a focus in Instructional Media and
Technology. She is the Webmaster for the online gazette, Volunteer Today. In
addition she operates a personal services
business. | 
