planning for membership growth

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

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


reachable with a strong plan You need both an internal and

public timeline


reachable with a strong plan The internal timeline is built by the

board and contains an overview of

the work of all committees, etc



You can’t effectively build

ownership without knowing what’s

coming next, when things are

likely to happen

TIMELINE(s)Review


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.



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


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?