Research Demonstrates Value of Experiences and Evolving Strategies to Engage Members and Constituents 

March 25, 2020 – Personify, Inc. (“Personify”), the market-leading provider of technology solutions for associations, nonprofit and event professionals, today released findings from its new research, New Decade: New Experiences, New Challenges, which focuses on the role of experience in shaping the constituent relationship with an organization and the challenges that organizations face in the market today. The research is based on survey questions that were fielded throughout 2019 with more than 1,000 members in the United States.  

Personify explored key questions about the role of experience and discovered:  

  • The critical role of a compelling, and relevant, experience in acquiring new constituents; 
  • how experience continues to drive evolution of trusted engagement methods and propel new ones forward; and 
  • experience ecosystems and how an organization’s technologies must provide value independently but also together. 

Personify’s findings also found that:  

  • 70% of Generation Z prioritize stability and security in a job over passion and flexibility. 
  • Millennial members were 16 percentage points more likely to say being part of an association is growing in importance. 
  • African American members surveyed were significantly higher than average to agree that being part of an association is more important than it used to be, at 66%. 
  • Across all groups, constituents report that email is an effective way to reach them, with a large majority (82%) of those surveyed ranking email first or second. 
  • 80% of constituents told Personify that they like or love personal emails from their association and three-quarters have a favorable opinion of e-newsletters. 
  • When asked to indicate whether an individual’s social media usage had grown in the last two years, Facebook (40%), Twitter (39%) and Instagram (44%) all saw adoption grow. 
  • Overall, 45% of members told us they liked or loved receiving a phone call from their association, with 51% showing the same level of appreciation for text messages. 

However, the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) has presented an entirely new challenge to individuals, families, organizations and governments around the globe. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused systematic change across all aspects of society, with association and event professionals being among the most impacted.  

While essential to maintain global health and safety, event cancellations and extreme social distancing have limited engagement efforts for many organizations. Personify’s research finds that there’s an opportunity for organizations to provide digital connections and touchpoints that can supplement the lack of interaction that would typically take place at work. 

“The findings of the research, which were fielded before Coronavirus became the global pandemic we’re seeing today, suggest that delivering an experience to constituents is the path to long-term success in the 2020s and beyond,” said Amanda Myers, Vice President of Product and research author. “Our survey respondents told us time and again that a mix of digital channels was important to keeping them engaged with an organization. Now, as we look to navigate these uncertain times, delivering an omni-channel experience isn’t just important—it’s critical.” 

An on-demand webinar, hosted by Personify, explores the findings of the research in more detail. Association, event and nonprofit professionals will leave with an understanding of how to apply these findings to the challenges they face today.  

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