Now is a good time to reflect on your membership. You may have seen the influx of members come and go from New Year’s resolutions. Why have members stuck with it (or not)? Some leaders advise gyms to encourage members by creating and maintaining a community. Ys, Js, and other health and wellness centers can use this to their advantage as well. Many times whether a member stays at your center or leaves is because you either provided a sense of community or you didn't. The good news is that it isn’t too late! Here are 7 ways to implement community programs into your practices to retain your engaged members.

  1. Facebook Groups: If you haven’t setup a Facebook page for your facility, you should.  Have you considered setting up pages for particular interests, groups and programs? It’s a great way to keep like minded members connected.
  2. Public Recognition of Success: People love being recognized for their hard work, especially when it comes to exercise – so help them toot their own horns. Encourage challenges and announce the winners on social media so others in the facility can also congratulate them on their success.
  3. Take Photos:Take lots of photos. You can feature personal training, nutrition classes, member milestones, and group exercise. Many members love to be recognized publicly so (once you have permission) use these on social media so members can have bragging rights.
  4. Targeted New Member Communications: Staff at the YMCA of Pikes Peak use Daxko Engage to check in on new members at specific points in time. "With Engage we really can look to see how new members are doing and now we know more about them. We’ve added a 30-day phone call that didn’t happen before we implemented Daxko Engage. During that call we can prompt members that haven’t used their fitness appointment to sign up and we have noticed an increase in those appointments,”says Member Experience Director Ariella Franco. Whether you have an engagement tool or not, you can set up reminders to check in with members at critical points in their membership.
  5. Tap into their Talents:  Members are diverse, and you can use this to your advantage. Get to know what your members do outside of your walls. Find creative ways to tap into their talents for possible volunteer situations and connect them to others – a win-win for you and them.
  6. Ask for feedback:A simple survey with just a few questions is a great way to give you insight into your members and according to the Center for Association growth it is also a great way to identify those who want to take the next step like donating or volunteering.
  7. Nutrition Challenges: Many centers focus on fitness but very little on nutrition. Helping members set and achieve nutritional goals promotes body confidence and opens members up to a more holistic view of health. Around the Plate offers some good ideas for nutrition challenges you can try.

We hope you learned some tips you can implement and see engaged members in your results!

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