Affinity programs have long been a staple for associations seeking to provide added value to members while generating non-dues revenue. But are you getting it right? Too often, these programs focus solely on revenue generation, neglecting their true purpose: delivering meaningful value to your members. Let’s explore how to assess and improve your affinity products to ensure they align with your mission and meet member needs.
What Are Affinity Products?
Product discounts are the cornerstone of successful affinity programs. These involve partnerships where associations offer members access to third-party products or services at special rates. Done well, affinity products create a win-win: members gain access to exclusive benefits, and associations earn revenue while enhancing member satisfaction.
Why Most Affinity Programs Fall Short
Many associations fall into the trap of prioritizing revenue over relevance. Members often encounter affinity products that feel generic or disconnected from their professional or personal lives. The result? Low engagement and dwindling trust.
To avoid this, shift your focus from what generates the most revenue to what delivers the most value. When affinity products align with your members’ needs and your mission, they become powerful tools for engagement and retention.
How to Get Affinity Products Right
Here’s how to transform your affinity programs from underperforming revenue streams to valuable member benefits:
1. Evaluate Your Current Affinity Products
Start by auditing your existing affinity products:
Relevance: Are these products or services solving real problems for your members?
Utilization: What percentage of members are taking advantage of these offerings?
Feedback: What do members think about the programs? Survey them to gather insights.
For example, a technology-focused association discovered its members underutilized its travel discount program. After evaluating member feedback, the association replaced it with a partnership offering discounted access to industry-specific software tools, which quickly became a member favorite.
2. Seek Strategic Partnerships for Affinity Products
Align your affinity products with your mission and members’ priorities. Focus on partnerships that provide unique, high-value offerings.
For instance:
A professional association for architects partnered with a 3D modeling software company, giving members discounted access to cutting-edge tools essential for their work.
An educational nonprofit teamed up with an online learning platform to offer free and discounted courses, reinforcing its mission to support lifelong learning.
3. Prioritize Member Value in Affinity Products
Revenue is important, but it should not overshadow member value. Ask yourself:
Does this product align with our mission?
Is this something our members genuinely need?
Will this product enhance their professional or personal lives?
Affinity products that prioritize member value often generate more revenue in the long run because they foster loyalty and engagement.
4. Measure the Performance of Affinity Products
Establish clear metrics to evaluate the success of your affinity products. Track:
Adoption Rates: How many members are using the product or service?
Member Feedback: Are members satisfied with the offering?
Revenue Impact: What is the program’s financial contribution?
Regularly review these metrics and adjust your offerings based on performance.
Visualizing the Shift
Imagine a decision matrix where one axis measures member value and the other measures revenue potential. The most successful affinity products will fall in the quadrant where both axes score high. Visual tools like this can help your team prioritize the right programs.
Conclusion: Make Affinity Products Work for Your Members
Affinity products should be more than a revenue stream—they should be an extension of your organization’s mission and a valuable resource for your members. By auditing your offerings, seeking strategic partnerships, prioritizing member value, and measuring performance, you can transform underwhelming programs into essential benefits that members love.
Ready to rethink your approach? Start by asking your members what they need and let their answers guide your decisions. When you get affinity products right, everyone wins.
To learn more about affinity products, please see Nonprofit Disruption: 5 Choices for Nonprofits and Going Back to the Basics in the Affinity Market.