Wharton Clubs: Dialed In - Fall 2018

Thank you so much for joining our fall edition of Wharton Clubs: Dialed In on October 18th! We hope you came away from the presentation and discussion with new ideas on how to create or improve your membership structure. If you weren’t able to join, feel free to catch up on highlights below. You can also access the slide deck with notes and a recording of the call.

Opportunities to connect

• Wharton Club Leaders Facebook Group
• Wharton Officers
• 4 regional club conferences
  • San Francisco (TBD)
  • Shanghai (March)
  • Philadelphia (May)
  • London (June)

News from Wharton

• More than Ever Campaign
• Wharton Alumni Fast Chats
• Joe Talks Regional Alumni Events
  • Tokyo (October 10)
  • Philadelphia (January 23)
  • Miami (February 6)
  • DC (April 30)
  • Sao Paulo (June 5)
  • NYC (TBD)

Fundamentals of Membership

• Models
  • The "what" of membership
    • Clubs define membership in different ways
    • Membership models should be constantly evolving
    • Depending on culture/community, a tiered model with both free and paid models may be most beneficial
    • Membership Models: 
      • Free & Paid
      • Paid Levels
      • Paid, One Level
      • Free Membership
      • No Membership

• Benefits
  • The "why" of membership
    • Crucial for both paid and unpaid models
    • Create a value proposition for spending money, devoting time to attend events and identifying with club
    • Part of developing a unique identity for the club
  • 4 themes:
    • Communications
      • Identify highly engaged alumni
      • Provide content and updates to community
      • Ideal for paid and unpaid models
      • The Wharton Club of Brazil utilizes social media to engage with all alumni 
      • The Wharton Club of Northern California offers job opportunties for paid members on its site
    • Leadership
      • Identify who may hold office and vote in elections
      • Works for both paid and unpaid models
    • Discounts
      • Member and non-member prices for programs
      • Encourages engagement and financial support
      • Better suited to a model with paid and unpaid options
    • Special Access
      • Some programming only available to paid members
      • Extra incentive beyond a discount
      • Best suited to a paid membership model
      • The Wharton Alumni Angel Network in Boston is open only to members of the Wharton Club of Boston for an additional fee
      • Only paid members are eligible to participate in the mentor matching program for the Wharton Club of Chicago 
• Marketing
  • The "how" of membership 
    • Define what it means to be a part of the club
      • The Wharton Club of New York encourages alumni to "Take the Call" to connect with other alumni
    • Incentivize new members with creative ideas and easy opportunities to join
      • The Penn & Wharton Club of Arizona offered free entry to its Fall Kickoff for anyone who purchased membership before the event
    • Thank those who join in a meaningful way and incorporate recognition in all programming