planning for membership growth
TRANSCRIPT
Planning a Powerful
Ownership Year:What it takes to be ready for a big
ownership growth push, and how to
build the plan.
Q: Do you want to rev
up your co-op’s
ownership growth?
A: Trick question! The answer is always YES. But do you know why?
Ownership GROWTH is
the #1 predictor of:• How well you are getting your message out there• How excited your community is about your mission/vision• How likely your co-op will be successful getting fully
funded
how likely it is your co-op will get
open and be a success.
1st – we’ve got
to have the
tools
BRANDGOALSTIMELINELEADER
BRAND
Never underestimate the power of BRAND.
It’s a another way to say “YOUR CO-OP’S
STORY” and it’s everything you’ve got to
sell right now. You don’t have a store, you
have an idea, and a new one folks are
unsure of at that. A strong brand
communicates:
• This is a real business and is
going to be a real, quality
grocery store
• This is something exciting,
join!
• This has a lot of support, you
see it all over the place!
Easy to
Read
BRANDThis is a strong
BRANDThis is a strong
BRAND (yet!)
This is NOT a strong
GOALSOwnership Growth
Planning
What numbers we’re
shooting for and how to get
there!
Review
20 – 35 new owners a month is
reachable with a strong plan
A moderate annual goal would be
200 per year
An aggressive goal would be 350+
owners in a year
Most ever attained by a startup:
600+ in one year (rare case!)
TIMELINE(s)
Timelining Your
Co-opUp and Coming 2016 4-hour
workshop (slides)
Review
20 – 35 new owners a month is
reachable with a strong plan You need both an internal and
public timeline
20 – 35 new owners a month is
reachable with a strong plan The internal timeline is built by the
board and contains an overview of
the work of all committees, etc
20 – 35 new owners a month is
reachable with a strong plan
You can’t effectively build
ownership without knowing what’s
coming next, when things are
likely to happen
TIMELINE(s)Review
20 – 35 new owners a month is
reachable with a strong plan Once an internal timeline is built,
build a PUBLIC timeline based on
ownership goals.
Review “Ownership Growth
Planning” for more.
20 – 35 new owners a month is
reachable with a strong plan
You can’t effectively build
ownership without knowing what’s
coming next, when things are
likely to happen
Ownership Growth
Planning
What numbers we’re
shooting for and how to get
there!
LEADERSHIP
20 – 35 new owners a month is
reachable with a strong plan Who is going to be responsible for
the plan and executing on it? Who
will head it up?
• A Committee? Does it have a chair?
• An employee? Do they have
time/capacity?
• A board member? (NO, unless you’re
in stage 1 development!)
• You’ll need a constant source of
design support, where will it come
from?
“Leadership” means board leadership too. If the board doesn’t have a clear VISION, a clear TIMELINE, and clear EXPECTATIONS of ownership growth efforts it can’t expect those taking on the effort to be successful.
NOTE:
Okay, got it.
Now what?You’ve got a brand, ownership level goals, an
internal timeline, a public timeline, and a plan for leadership. Great, let’s go!
• Stage 2a
• 275 owners
• Started organizing 2.5 years ago,
selling shares 1.5 years ago
• No location as of yet
• Wants to be at 550 owners in a
year (500 in 9 months)
• Not certain yet, but think they are
looking at a 7500 sq ft store,
needing 1200 owners to open
doors
• College town community
Green Apple Food Co-op# Project
March 275
April 300 Market Study
May
June Proforma Work
July
August
September Feasibility Proven?
October
November
December 500
January Site Search Begins!
February
# Project Big Events
March 275
April 300 Market Study Spring Farm Event
May
June Proforma Work
July
Aug
Sept Feasibility Proven? Harvest Festival
Oct
Nov
Dec 500
Jan Site Search Begins!
Feb
BIG EVENTSPlace these first in your ownership
growth annual plan.
• Big Event = all hands on deck, the co-op is
throwing the event or a main sponsor, NOT a
tabling event, etc. The attract a large and diverse
audience, many non-owners.
• How Many? – Two is ideal, but no more than two.
• Owner Meeting? – is the owner meeting a “big”
event? Can be, depends how your co-op does it.
Make sure it has big appeal for non-owners.
IDEAS:
• Harvest festival
• Spring barn dance
• Thanksgiving Pop Up with local music, activities
• Salsa Fest
• Big reveal of the location, tour of raw space
• Meet the GM party
• Local Food Grill Out
# Project Big Events Mini Campaign
March 275 Get to 300! Market Study(giveaway?)
April 300 Market Study Spring Farm Event (bands)
May 320
June 340 Proforma Work
July 350
Aug 370 Push to 400 = reveal feasibility at owner meeting!
Sept 400 FeasibilityProven?
Harvest Festival/owner meeting
Oct 425
Nov 445 End the year with 500!
Dec 500 End the year with 500 – kick off new year with site search!
Jan Site SearchBegins!
Feb We Love our Co-op! 28 owners in 28 days (use heart theme!)
MINI CAMPAIGNSMini Campaigns = short,
energetic drives to reach a set
number of new or total owners.
• Can’t run them back to back, space
them out. Too many of them create
messaging fatigue.
• Giveaways – giveaways create more
excitement. Giveaways for new
owners work best, one’s aimed at
referring owners are harder to make
work.
• Involve Local Businesses – they can
sponsor the giveaway, host in
person meet ups during the mini-
campaign month, have them cross
post on social media
• 95% Social Media – these are
social media events, lots of
enthusiastic posting, post udates
often, post as each new owner joins
# Project Big Events Mini Campaign Swag
March 275 Get to 300! Market Study (giveaway?)
April 300 Market Study
Spring Farm Event (bands) Get kid temporary tattoos for market season
May 320 Canvas logoed bags for market season (sell), buttons (giveaway)
June 340 Proforma Work
July 350
Aug 370 Push to 400 = reveal feasibility at owner meeting!
Sept 400 FeasibilityProven?
Harvest Festival/owner meeting
YARD SIGNS – have for owner meeing
Oct 425 Yard signs – get up all over town
Nov 445 End the year with 500! Pre-order T-shirt sale, great for gifts!
Dec 500 End the year with 500 – kick off new year with site search!
Pre-order t-shirts arrive, lots of pics!
Jan Site SearchBegins!
Feb We Love our Co-op! 28 owners in 28 days (use heart theme!)
Ad
d i
n S
WA
G
What is the big deal about SWAG?
What is the big deal about SWAG?When anyone becomes an owner they should walk
away with something that makes them feel
connected.
Wearing swag from their co-op, putting a sign in
their yard, is the first thing any owner can do to
feel connected to their co-op.
Would it be as fun to be a fan of your favorite
sports team without the t-shirts, without posting
their logo as your Facebook icon during playoffs?
Brand connects us!
Questions?