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Examples of onboarding efforts from Chicago, Colorado, New Mexico New York City, San Francisco, SoCal, Washington State and Wisconsin.

Chicago:

Below is the onboarding process for new members of NAIOP Chicago:

• Monthly outreach to new members by NAIOP Chicago’s Membership Committee.
• Monthly outreach to new DL members by Developing Leader’s Membership Committee.
• Both Membership Committees send welcome emails and insights on benefits of their new NAIOP membership.
• NAIOP Chicago staff answers any new member questions.
• We connect any new member attending an event with one of our Board or DL Board members.
• Our Board and DL Board are the primary contacts for new members, as opposed to staff (which is how we previously reached out). We’ve seen better retention of new members when our Board and DL Board make a connection with new members, since a peer in the industry is providing the initial outreach.

Colorado:

The Colorado Chapter has a standing Membership Committee made up of approximately 10 members from various sectors of the industry. We reach out to what I consider “warm leads”, e.g., non-members who have attended an event or otherwise expressed an interest in NAIOP and invite them to attend an event or join. We also reach out to non-renewers each year after the annual drop. Those reach-outs are somewhat successful, although most of our members independently come to the decision to join/renew.

The same committee receives a report monthly and contacts all new members at least once, welcoming them, encouraging them to get involved in a committee of their choice, and giving them a friendly contact to answer any other questions they might have.

The chapter also has an annual career-focused event for the local MBA/real estate students at two local universities, exposing them to NAIOP and some of its leaders. Many students join, and for those students who end up working in the local commercial real estate sector after graduating, it gives the chapter a head start in recruiting.

New Mexico:

Before or After they join:

• Invite them to the next event as a guest of NAIOP Chapter & pair them with a NAIOP Board member
• Meet with chapter members for a cup of coffee, lunch or an after-work beverage to talk “How to get involved with the Chapter”
• Chapter administration sends an email “welcoming the new member” with their e-card, and a link to the NAIOP NM Membership list online with the password.

New York City:

Immediately upon receiving notice of a new member joining, the administrative team sends a welcome email from our NAIOP NYC email address noting committee opportunities, social media channels and upcoming events.

After the email goes out a list of new members is sent to the Membership Committee Co-chairs so they can send a more personal outreach note.

If the new member signs up for one of our committees a call is scheduled with the Chapter President to discuss committee goals for the year, upcoming initiatives and what they’re looking to achieve through their committee participation so that the chapter can ensure it’s a fulfilling experience.

San Francisco:

The SF Bay Area's Membership Committee is in charge of this and they host quarterly new member breakfast meetings, during which they take a few moments to sit the group down and review member benefits and opportunities to get involved. These have been very successful.

The chapter also sends a welcome email from the administrative office to each new member inviting them to follow social media accounts, how to log in to the website, and highlighting other benefits. This is sent the same day the chapter is notified by NAIOP Corporate.

Recently a the chapter launched a Connectivity & Engagement committee and one of their areas of focus is ensuring engagement for new and current members.

SoCal:

The chapter welcomes new members with an email letter which includes the calendar of events and NAIOP U workshop calendar. The membership committee receives a list of new members every month at their meetings and reaches out to the new members and invites them to the chapter’s next event.

Washington:

New Member Onboarding Staff –Member Engagement Manager with support from our Events and Admin Coordinator.

1. Enter into our database (within 24-48 hours of Corporate Notification)
2. Send Welcome email
3. Coordinate small groups and assign a committee lead
4. Connect and welcome new members through LinkedIn
5. Run chapter milestone campaigns to highlight new members and post member profile to our blog and app.
6. Announce new members at monthly breakfast – (Chapter President via Executive Director)
7. Personally invite to New Member Mixer (happens 3x a year)
8. Personally invite to participate in Breakfast Buddy Program (happens 2x a year)
9. Personally invite to relevant programming that may be interesting to new members.
10. 6 months after joining – an email is sent inviting to upcoming events and linking member to other opportunities inside NAIOP. Specifically focusing on Committee opportunities.
11. 9 months – reach out via. Remind member of upcoming renewal, invite to upcoming events. Highlight opportunities in NAIOP and offer ways to engage deeper with the CRE community.
12. Engage new and prospective members and monthly breakfasts, facilitate introductions to “experience members” (monthly)
13. Attend most NAIOP events, make personal introductions between new members and “experienced” members (weekly to twice a month depending on the schedule)

New Member Onboarding Committee – with Staff support.

1. Staff groups new members into small groups for committee. Committee small group leads invite new members to an informal small group HH (happens 3-4x a year per small group)
2. Attend New Member Mixers – engage new members and facilitate introductions
3. Attend NAIOP monthly breakfast. Volunteer at registration to engage new and prospective members.
4. Assist in renewal emails and phone calls.
5. Breakfast Buddy Program – pair new members with “seasoned” members at a breakfast program to facilitate introduction and provide a deeper dive into being a NAIOP member (2x a year)
6. Meet monthly to provide discussion around value prop for members and member companies to drive phone and email campaigns.

Summary:

NAIOP Washington State works to engage new members on multiple levels. Staff and the Committee work together to make sure each new member is engaged with several times throughout the year. The primary responsibility for welcoming new members is the Member Engagement Manager who assigns a small group lead (various people on committee) to extend an additional welcome and host an informal HH meetup. Staff and Committee work to plan three formal new and prospective member mixers and two breakfast buddy program a year. The Member Engagement Manager attends a majority of NAIOP events and welcomes and facilitates introductions when possible. Similarly, committee members volunteer at breakfasts to help at registration and do the same. Staff and Committee work together to outline talking points and to focus on value proposition for our members and member companies.

What works well:

• Welcome emails
• Valuable programming and networking opportunities for our members
• Opportunities for our new members to connect right away with experienced NAIOP members

What needs to improve:

• The renewal process is challenging and leads to unhappy members
• New members sometimes get missed in when member benefits have been transferred

Wisconsin:

The onboarding process begins with the chapter administrator sending the new members an email through Constant Contact. After the welcome letter an email is sent to the membership committee as they are the chapter’s NAIOP ambassadors. Committee members select a new member to connect with either via email or phone, they schedule a meeting with the new member if possible. All of the ambassadors have a NAIOP Wisconsin information flyer they bring to the meeting.

The chapter administration recently updated the initial email to new members and worked with the membership committee to create a template email and an outline for the new member meeting so that ambassador members feel armed and ready when they meet with new members.

Finally the chapter has several new member coffees throughout the year. Leadership and new members are invited to attend the coffees to network and learn about the organization and how to get involved.