Below is a template that you can customise of a survey that you can use when members leave members. I recommend you use a telephone interview.

Dear ???

“Obviously we are disappointed with the news that you no longer wish to remain a member. But we understand that you had to make a decision and wish you every success. If I we can be of any further help then please let us know.

I do have one favour to ask. We like to learn more about what we could be doing differently. We have a standard set of debriefing questions that we like to ask when a member decides not to renew. Could I schedule a (5 minute?) conversation/meeting with you to go over them? It would be of great help.”

If they agree, you could send them the questions to reflect on before you call back.

Questions

I would like to ask some general questions first.

1. Which of the following caused you consider not renewing your membership? (Create a list for them to choose from, for example:
   • Not enough time to use the benefits
   • Retiring
   • Relocation
   • Active in other associations
   • Time pressures
   • Services too general
   • Did not receive the expected value to justify the cost
   • Change of job/career/business focus
   • Change of interest
   • Dissatisfied with association performance
   • Not enough local activity
   • Association was ineffective in representing the profession/community/sector
   • The group was not the right one for me
   • Disagreed with the association’s national political/advocacy position
   • Disagreed with local policy
   • Dissatisfied with local branch
   • Moved home/location
   • Was not welcomed by the group
   • Feel the association no longer addresses my concerns
   • This is no longer a priority for me
   • Employer stopped paying membership subscription
   • Business closed
   • Other…………)
2. What was the key reason behind your decision not to renew?……………
3. Is there anything we could have done differently to prevent you from leaving? [ ] No [ ] Yes – please provide details …… (Or: Is there anything we could do to make you reconsider dropping your membership? Or: Please complete the following: I would have renewed my membership if …… )
4. Would you still recommend the association to a friend or colleague? [ ] Yes [ ] No
5. Might you re-join at some point in the future? If so, what might encourage you to re-join?
6. What was the decision-making or evaluation process that you went through when you decided not to renew?
7. To finish I would like to ask a couple of questions on these specific concerns that you had. (Develop these questions based on their reply)

A few additional points:

• I recommend you tailor your approach to take into account of the level involvement and commitment each member who is leaving has have made to the association. I would handle long standing members, and members who have played an active volunteer role, very differently e.g. a call from someone senior in the organisation to thank them for their contribution).

• The two key questions above are:

No 3: Try to find out if it is a ‘good’ lapse (i.e. they are leaving for reasons that are nothing to do with their membership experience e.g. relocating overseas, etc.) or ‘bad’ lapse (they are leaving because of something to do with you).

No 4: Find out if they would still recommend you to a colleague or a friend. They may still be a supporter and advocate of the association, and help with recruitment, so it would be a good idea to keep in contact with them! You might want to use the Net Promoter Score to capture their response. This asks them to rate their likelihood of promoting you on a scale from zero (not likely at all) to 10 (extremely likely).

• Finally, if you are short of resources, set up an involvement opportunity for a few members to act as ‘Farewell Ambassadors’ to carry out a personal call to find out why they are leaving.