How is the recession affecting chambers of commerceToday, I found this blog post that discusses how chambers of commerce and business associations are being affected by the recession. Rick Cohen, the post's author, cites a number of sources, including the 2009 Economic Impact On Associations Report by McKinley Marketing.

There are certainly many examples of the economy affecting chamber membership numbers and sponsorship revenue. However, with each obstacle there are opportunities. :-)

I thought this was an interesting nugget from the blog post:

Strategies focused on members: How do trade associations imagine getting through the recession? By being more effective membership associations. Respondents’ top priorities for 2009 were improving member retention (50%), new member acquisition (41%), branding/public awareness (36%), and developing new methods of member engagement (34%).
 
How are you implementing these and/or other strategies? How are you using technology to help you?    Are you creating segmented communications to deliver relevant information? Are you communicating value to every member using benefit tracking, referral reports or other tools? How are you attracting new members?  Are you showing your members that you "know" them?

I also found this line a bit contradictory: “Surprisingly, they identified online media (blogs, Facebook, twitter, etc.) as the least effective tool at their disposal.” The article goes on to say that most organizations will be increasing their spending on social media or keeping it the same. I suspect the response is due to the difficulty in determining direct ROI when using social media.  I know that plenty of chambers are having good success with social media and are doing the great job with it.

So, do you view social media as a valuable tool to help you survive and THRIVE in the recession? And if so, can you share your reasons why you think it's valuable in the comments below? I would love to know what you think about the article and report AND what you are doing to focus more on your members as mentioned above.

Edit:  I got a reply from one of our clients and it was so good, I just had to add it to this post.  Jessica Hibbard from the Frederick County MD Chamber had this to say.
Social media is least effective? Hardly. This is a direct quote from an email from a small business that recently renewed their membership in our Chamber:

"Every year when I get my Chamber renewal form, I think long and hard as to whether I want to renew due to the expense. This year I don't have to think twice and am happy to make the investment. The reason is how you and the Chamber has embraced social media which gives some of us members another way to interact with each other and the Chamber itself."

If she emailed, then there are others who have thought the same thing and haven't taken the time to write to us. Even if engaging our members via social media only results in a few additional renewals a year, it's well worth the time and effort.