Member Benefits News

Without a doubt, chapters—and more specifically, chapter members—are the lifeline for the longevity and growth of ASHI. Without its chapters, ASHI would not be the great organization that it is today. Thank you for your faithfulness to your chapters and for sharing your ideas about how to make ASHI even better.

The ASHI Board of Directors recognizes the value of ASHI chapters and chapter members. For the second year in a row, the ASHI Board has approved an incentive for membership: Inspectors who join an ASHI chapter also will receive a one-year membership for National ASHI. This incentive expires December 31, 2017. For more details, please check with your chapter President or visit the ASHI website at www.ashi.org (Members-Only page, Chapter Section) to view the resources.

It’s important for ASHI chapters to be and stay successful. Membership development—the recruitment and retention of active, involved members—keeps a chapter alive. With a strong, committed membership base at both the chapter and national levels, ASHI can continue to represent its members effectively, and develop programs and services that meet members’ needs. 

Recruitment and retention are vital components to the effort of membership development. By having a base of active, involved members, chapters receive many benefits, including the following:

• increased revenue through chapter membership dues
• a stronger, more unified voice to address local and national legislative and regulatory issues
• enhanced opportunities for networking and support for all home inspectors
• a broad base of volunteers who can help support chapter and national efforts

Make no mistake, adding new inspectors to the membership roll through recruitment efforts is an excellent tactic to grow your chapter, but keeping current members involved is just as crucial.

Every time a renewal notice arrives, members re-examine the value they gain from their membership. They might ask themselves, “What’s in it for me?” Chapter members want and need to understand the true value of their membership in both the chapter and in ASHI, and how this value personally affects their business and their lives.

One of the most effective tools that chapter leaders can use to attract and retain members is to showcase the ongoing record of member involvement and member service at your meetings and in your chapter communications—in other words, prove your chapter’s value to each individual member whom you serve.

Be sure to watch for more information on this topic in next month’s Reporter when I’ll address other aspects of ASHI’s strong membership and chapters. It is great to be able share the great ideas that come from so many of our successful chapters and our national leadership!