In the past several years, more and more museums, cultural organizations, associations, alumni groups, and membership organizations of all shapes and sizes have made the switch to Digital Membership Cards.
What accounts for this growing trend of digital membership? In addition to offering significant savings on time and money, using digital cards expedites fulfillment, increases member satisfaction, and drives engagement. Plus, unlike so many system overhauls and digital projects, this turnkey solution can be implemented in just a few weeks.
In short, making the switch to digital delivers substantial impact and value for organizations and their members.
If you’re looking to tap into the power of digital in the year ahead, here are 22 reasons to consider launching in 2022!
Super Savings for Your Organization
1. Save time
At the average organization, simple tasks like printing, assembling, and mailing membership cards can take a great deal of time. This often leads to a backlog of memberships to process and fulfill, especially for institutions that are facing staff shortages. According to one Vice President at a mid-sized New York institution, “We lost so many of our staff during the pandemic, and currently, there is no dedicated staffer for membership. As the VP for External Affairs who wears many hats, I am now single handedly processing membership gifts and benefits. Printing and mailing membership cards is time consuming, and I'm behind by several months.”
That’s where Digital Membership Cards come in. With digital, your team can fulfill memberships efficiently online, erasing the burden of sending print requests, stuffing envelopes, and depending on postal mail. For example, after launching their digital membership program, Sophie Lawson, Membership & Marketing Officer at Museums Association noted that “the amount of time this has freed up has been significant, which has allowed us to do more member engagement rather than membership admin.”
2. Save money
Digital Membership Cards can also save significant funds. Traditional membership cards include costs such as production, postage, staff labor, and printing of other promotional materials. Going digital significantly reduces these fees. Cuseum’s customer service team also assists with digital membership support for your members, so your staff will never have to worry about allocating additional time for customer technical support. Many organizations are able to save up to $50,000 per year with digital membership cards!
3. Save the planet
Physical membership cards continue to be a notable source of paper and plastic waste for museums, cultural institutions, and membership organizations. Going digital makes it easy to eliminate this waste. Hear it from the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History: “Digital membership cards provide a more efficient and convenient way for Members to receive their cards. This environmentally-friendly approach supports the Museum's vision to connect people to nature for the betterment of both by reducing our environmental footprint. In the first year, this change eliminated thousands of paper letters and envelopes and plastic cards.” In 2022, as more organizations (and their members!) renew their commitment to sustainability, now is the time to go green with membership.
4. Accelerate membership card fulfillment
This year, organizations are striving not only to continue pandemic recovery, but to grow their membership files. Faced with limited resources to help facilitate such expansion, Digital Membership Cards can help! For example, the Anne Springs Close Greenway, a nature preserve in South Carolina, has used their extensive outdoor offerings to promote membership throughout the pandemic. According to Elizabeth Bowers, Communications Director at ASC Greenway, they doubled their membership base count in 2020, expanding from 7,000 to 14,000 households in just a year. Through this period of growth, ASC Greenway was able to rely on digital cards to fulfill memberships efficiently and expediently – they are even able to boast a less than 2-day turnaround time for membership fulfillment, which has enabled them to expand their program to its greatest potential.
If you’re looking to accelerate your membership fulfillment processes and keep up with your goals for membership growth in 2022, Digital Membership Cards can make this possible.
Increased Member Satisfaction
Image Credit: Denver Museum of Art
5. Provide instant gratification to members
Even before the pandemic, getting traditional membership cards in the hands of members could be a lengthy process, taking three to six weeks for many institutions. Compounded by staff shortages and postal mail delays, this has gotten even worse in 2022! Luckily, digital membership cards can help. In the words of Amanda Tadajewski, Membership Manager at Tellus Science Museum, “Members can now get their card the same day if needed. I have also been able to focus on other aspects of my job instead of just data cleanup and card fulfillment.”
6. Offer convenient, contactless entry
As of November 2021, over 80% of US consumers have used contactless payments in the past 12 months. In short, contactless is here, and it’s here to stay. Digital Membership Cards can bring the benefits of contactless exchanges to museums by offering members convenient, touchless museum entry, as well as access to other discounts and benefits that require a membership card!
7. Afford easy (and mobile) access to benefits
Start 2022 off by offering your members the ultimate convenience: mobile access to membership benefits! As KidsQuest Children’s Museum explains to their members, “Going digital means your membership information is at your fingertips! Information on your membership benefits, renewal notification, and reciprocal program information access (for qualifying membership levels) in a convenient place!”
8. Simplify reciprocal benefits access
Digital Membership Cards don’t just offer easy access to benefits at your institution – they also ensure members can make the most of their reciprocal benefits. Cuseum digital cards can feature the logos for reciprocal benefits programs (such as NARM, ASTC, and ROAM) on the front -of-card design, in addition to verifying reciprocal benefits on the back-of-card text. Prior to launching digital cards, institutions like Tellus Science Museum found that “many members would call over school breaks needing something via email to show to reciprocal museums.” With Digital Membership Cards, this is no longer the case!
9. Members can never lose, damage, or forget their membership card!
For institutions and their members, the ultimate convenience of going digital may be no more replacement membership cards. Safely stored on a smartphone, they can’t be lost, stolen, or damaged. In the words of the Field Museum, “Going digital means members never have to worry about forgetting their membership card.” This year, you can do your team and your members the ultimate favor by switching to Digital Membership Cards.
Drive Engagement and Membership Numbers
10. Create branded and personalized membership cards
Digital Membership Cards are one more way to bring your brand to your members – and you don’t just have to choose one card design! If you have different membership segments, program tiers, or alumni from multiple campuses, you can create customized cards for each group of members. As the University of Tennessee describes, “We were able to roll out four different digital cards that looked completely different. All of our campuses have their own mascots, colors, branding, and logos, so we’re pleased to have a solution that can accommodate all of the needs of our campuses.”
And if you’re planning a re-branding anytime soon, don't worry! Our digital platform makes it possible to perform self-service edits on the look and feel of your cards – without printing or resending them.
11. Drive renewals with mobile push notifications
Digital Membership Cards aren’t just a card – they’re also a communication tool, offering a streamlined, and intuitive way to deliver push notifications straight to your members’ smartphones! In 2020, push notifications had an open rate 50% higher than that of email marketing and a click-through rate 7 times higher than email marketing. And in April 2020, push notifications hit their highest open rate in 4 years! For that reason, push notifications are a powerful channel to deploy in order to send renewal reminders to your members.
→ Read More: Using Push Notifications to Drive Membership Renewals
12. Deliver special invitations and bolster fundraising efforts
Push notifications aren’t just for renewals – they can also be leveraged to send event invitations, reminders about member benefits, and fundraising campaigns. After you’ve launched your Digital Membership Cards, any member who has downloaded their card can receive your notifications.
You can also target specific segments of your audience with particular messages. For example, you may wish to communicate directly with particular membership levels or, for alumni organizations, certain affinity groups and chapters. All of this is possible with Digital Membership Cards!
13. Update member information and benefits in real-time
Unlike physical membership cards, digital cards offer special capabilities, like digital access to member benefits. In addition to the branded card front, Digital Membership Cards can be flipped over to reveal the back, which offers unlimited space to list benefits, discounts, upcoming events, hours of operation, and more. This digital card text can be updated dynamically, and you can customize the text copy to different segments of your constituency.
→ Read More: Using Digital Membership “Back of Card” Text to Deepen Constituent Engagement
14. Tap into location-based alerts to drive footfall
In addition to sending renewal messages and on-demand push notifications, Digital Membership Cards can be configured to automatically pop up when members are in proximity to your museum and other locations where they may wish to access their benefits (such as local discounts). You can also customize the geo-targeted notification that pops up for each location you choose to trigger an alert!
15. Easily initiate novel membership models
Increasingly, cultural institutions, associations, and other types of membership organizations are considering new membership models, such as month-to-month options, virtual subscriptions, and free/trial memberships. Such models can have long-term value, building loyalty with guests and allowing them to upgrade to a higher level membership when they are able to afford it. However, they can be risky to implement. In particular, many organizations are nervous to incur the costs of sending out membership cards for these types of tiers. Luckily, Digital Membership Cards make it cost-free to implement more experimental membership programs!
Effortless Implementation
16. Turnkey and lightweight solution
If you’re concerned going digital may be too daunting, fear not! Digital Membership Cards live in the mobile wallet, taking up less space than a single photograph. Unlike mobile apps, the mobile wallet is native to all smartphones, so no additional downloads are needed. Digital cards can achieve many basic app features with only a fraction of the cost, low development effort, and very little time committed. Start 2022 off right with this turnkey and lightweight solution.
17. Super speedy (4-6 week!) rollout process
One of the most common questions we get about digital memberships is about timeline. You may be wondering, “is it even possible to launch in 2022?” It’s not just possible – it’s anticipated! Switching over to a digital system doesn’t need to be a huge undertaking. In fact, most organizations can launch digital memberships with Cuseum in just 4-6 weeks. To learn more, check out our 6-step guide to launching & succeeding with Digital Memberships.
18. Simple CRM integration
Cuseum seamlessly integrates directly with the most common Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems in the industry. These include Blackbaud Altru, Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT, Tessitura, NeonOne, Salesforce, and many, many, many more! Alternatively, you can quickly and easily upload CSV files directly through our platform, or automate the process with transfers to our FTP. A Cuseum representative can talk through your options to ensure you’re on the most efficient path to launching to Digital Membership Cards.
2022’s Most In-Demand Solution
19. Mobile wallet adoption and demand has never been higher
Since 2020, we’ve witnessed an upsurge in consumer adoption of mobile wallets. According to Digital Virgo, COVID-19 prompted this shift, causing “digital wallets, mobile payments and alternative convenient payments to become the norm.” Experts anticipate that mobile wallets will become the popular in-store payment method, reaching 75% adoption by 2025.
In short, your members are already using mobile wallets and contactless payments – in coffee shops, groceries stores, pharmacies, and more. In 2022, you can make their membership accessible via the mobile wallet too!
20. Your members want it!
Digital interactions and engagement are rapidly becoming the standard in membership across museums, cultural organizations, and associations. For example, in Cuseum’s soon-to-be released study on digital transformation in museum membership, at nearly half of cultural organizations, 50% or more of total membership sales take place online. In other words, digital interactions are rising to become the first touchpoint for the majority of members. According to Matt Rains, Membership Director at the National Aquarium, institutions need to “integrate a strong digital/virtual presence into all levels of membership. Think of digital as a vehicle to bring your organization’s experience, mission and benefits (e.g. welcome series, member magazine, newsletters, access to discounts, special appeals/advocacy, virtual program/event options) to members.” In 2022, Digital Membership Cards can serve as precisely the vehicle you need!
21. Jump into the hybrid future
In this later stage of the pandemic, with so many discussions taking place about our new “hybrid” reality, membership professionals are working hard to strike a balance between developing both in-person and online membership offerings. In such an environment, Digital Membership Cards offer the ideal balance between enabling onsite access and delivering online benefits. In the words of Jerome Louis, Membership Manager at New York Hall of Science, “Digital cards are a great place to start with hybrid. They are a fraction of the cost, and allow for much more scalability. This will also let you know if your member base wants to be engaged virtually.”
22. Digital Membership: The New Industry Standard
According to our forthcoming report on 2022 membership priorities, Digital Membership Cards have outpaced virtual events, online subscriptions, and digital content access as this year’s number one priority among museum membership leaders. In short, digital cards are quickly becoming the standard for museum membership – so don’t wait to make the switch!
In the past several years, countless museums, cultural institutions, associations, societies, and alumni groups have made the transition to digital. And in 2022, digital is only gaining more momentum.