Membership Drives

Membership Drives (aka Membership Campaigns or Membership Events) are a part of the Membership Sales process for many chambers. Some chambers have both Membership Drives and Total Resource Campaigns. Other chambers have contests or events that serve the purpose of a drive, but aren't labeled as such; more on that in this LinkedIn thread. Always important as a piece of the Membership Sales process is Membership Retention and Membership Recruitment. While drives and Total Resource Campaigns serve as income sources, additional revenue streams are identified in ACCE's whitepaper on Chamber Revenue Models (Dec 2013).

Award-Winning Membership Campaigns

Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce (TN) "WE" Membership Campaign - 2015 ACE Grand Award

Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce (TN) Membership Drive - Every member that joined, upgraded or referred a new member through October 31, 2017 was entered in a drawing for some of the best prizes, including a $500 Southwest gift card, a one night stay for two in a suite at the Omni Nashville hotel, a one night stay at the Westin Nashville hotel, and two tickets to attend the Nashville Symphony at Schermerhorn Symphony Center.

Newnan-Coweta Chamber Membership Drive - 2015 CoY Award
Richardson Chamber of Commerce (TX) Membership Drive Brochures - 2014 ACE Award of Excellence
St. Tammany West's (LA) "Testimonial" Membership Campaign - 2015 ACE Grand Award

Arlington (Va.) Chamber brought in over 100 new members in their 2018 campaign (newspaper article).
Chamber of Commerce Hawaii had a "One and Done" Campaign in 2014 that doubled their membership.
Shawnee (Kan.) Chamber announced their 2018 membership campaign goals.

"Operation Thank You" - An annual event by the Nacogdoches County Chamber (TX) in which directors and volunteers are out and about town, hand-delivering the new directories, maps, and publications to as many Chamber members as possible.
"Taste the Chamber" luncheon - The Eden Prairie Chamber (MN) hosts this free luncheon event at a restaurant. The chamber gives a 20-30 minute presentation and at the end and asks non-members to join. Members who bring a prospect that joins get $100 cash! See the full discussion of ideas on this LinkedIn Thread.

Members can only attend if they bring a non-member guest. The chamber ALWAYS has special benefits to join that day and that day only - for example, waiving the initiation fee or free lunch passes.
The chamber selects 4 members to give testimonials and makes sure board members attend.
The chamber runs the event twice a year. Each sold-out event typically draws 60 non-members and about 20 members. They usually get 20-24 new members at each luncheon. The chamber also gets new prospects that will potentially join in the future.
Total revenue is about $12,000, with expenses at about $2000 in food costs and $2000 - $2500 in referral dollars.