Can your program survive without LERN? The Senior LERN leadership and Board of Directors say ‘No’.
Not just another association, LERN members report 12 percent higher registrations, an ROI of 10:1 on your investment in LERN, record conference attendance, and benchmarks and information not available anywhere else.
With LERN being in the first year of a critical five-year transition to a new management team and financial structure, the top 30 Senior LERN Leaders met in Tucson to provide member support and guidance in setting new directions for LERN.
LERN is currently the largest association in lifelong learning in the world, with over 5,000 members throughout Canada and the United States. LERN is currently in a strong financial condition.
The new directions:
1. Customizing information.
Exploring customizing more information to constituencies, as LERN serves members in different institutional settings, including recreation departments, public schools, community colleges, associations and universities.
2. Growing membership revenue and Membership Council
A twin strategy of both increasing dues, and recruiting more Organizational Members, is being pursued. While LERN already has over 1,100 Organizational Members, the largest of any lifelong learning association in the world, it is also in the best position to recruit even more members.
With dues being just 16 percent of LERN’s revenue, as compared to 38 percent for the average association, LERN leaders are recommending several levels of membership, giving LERN members the option of different dues levels and services.
LERN leaders suggested forming a Membership Council composed of LERN members to help recruit and retain more members.
3. Reward Level Membership
Leaders provided input and support for a new ‘Reward Level’ membership level option for programs with modest budgets. The new level would have lower dues for those programs registering students for UGotClass. Additional benefits are also being explored for programs in the Reward Level.
4.UGotClass Expansion
UGotClass has grown to be the third biggest source of revenue and operating margin, just behind membership and the annual conference.
LERN leaders want to integrate member programming more directly with UGotClass, including creating hybrid or blended courses you can offer in conjunction with our online courses, and even selling contracts to your local organizations for online courses.
