Sheri Jacobs - The Art of Membership: How to Attract, Retain and Cement Member Loyalty

Contents

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Jacobs, Sheri.

The art of membership : how to attract, retain, and cement member loyalty / Sheri Jacobs. First edition.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-118-63310-6 (hardback); ISBN 978-1-118-63311-3 (pdf); ISBN 978-1-118-63308-3 (epub)

1. Associations, institutions, etc.Membership. 2. Membership campaigns. I. Title.

AS6.J33 2014

060dc23

2013032685

To my husband and daughter, Matt and Jillian Getter, to whom

I am eternally grateful for their patience, love, and support.

And to my parents, Allan and Jodie Jacobs, who inspired me with

their own commitment to making the world a better place

through their volunteer work and contributions.

List of Tables, Figures, and Exhibits

Tables

Figures

Exhibits

Preface

It was late in the evening when the call came in over the police scanner. There had been an accident on Route 81, about ten miles north of the small town in New York where I was working as a photojournalist on a daily newspaper. A driver entering the highway on the wrong side of the road had hit another car head-on. An important detail in this story is that this wasnt just an isolated, unfortunate accident. It was the third time in as many months that someone had made a wrong turn there and entered the highway on the wrong side. It was the first time, however, that this action had caused a fatality.

I had been on the job for four short months, yet because I was on the late shift, I was called to the scene of this accident. This was my first full-time position after college, though I had spent nearly three years working at other newspapers. I felt prepared to put aside my emotions and cover the events that unfolded in front of me. As I moved around the cars, staying out of the way of the first responders, I tried to capture images that would tell the story. It was a devastating scene, yet one that I felt could be best portrayed through the lens of a camera.

As I was developing my film, I was approached by one of the editors. He informed me the newspaper was going to run a small item about the incident, but there would not be room for a photo; the decision had been made to run a different photo, from an altogether different story, on the front page.

Of course there was room for a photo! I thoughtespecially for a story as important as this one. I protested. I was quickly overruled.