Firstly, the Apra Carolinas board would like to thank each and every one of our members for participating in this membership survey. We received responses from roughly one-third of our membership at 32%. Drawing from these excellent and detailed responses, it becomes possible to be strategic and find ways to bolster the chapter both in resources provided and engaging our membership base.
The survey responses indicate a broad spectrum of reasons as to why one became a member of Apra Carolinas in the first place, ranging from “I was encouraged by my supervisor to join” to “Professional development, networking” and more than one response of “I wanted to be informed about best practices.” Similarly, members saw the benefits of joining the chapter in “order to compare notes, trade tips, educational opportunities, and share information.” The responses to these two questions convey that our members are eager to learn & connect with others and continue to be updated with the latest relevant information.
Following these two questions, we asked our members what they were hoping to gain from being a member of Apra Carolinas. Responses were once again thoughtful, such as “To better myself as a researcher through growth of skills” and “Education through webinars/conferences and connections to others in my area.” Subsequently, we asked what benefits had they already gained from being a member and received responses of …
- Networking
- Professional development
- Webinars, Virtual Content
- General knowledge in the field
Our questions regarding conferences showed us that location can be an issue; cost and scheduling conflicts have also prevented some members from attending. Fortunately, we are planning a virtual fall conference in October with events spread over several dates in order to make this more feasible for conference participants. Apra Carolinas members will be able to attend this conference free-of-charge.
Members had various expectations for conference material including learning tips & tricks, high quality content, and good speakers. These results tell us that conferences are still very much desired and from different perspectives. In regards to conferences, we asked our members where they’d like to see Apra Carolinas conferences take place once travel is possible. Suggestions included the South Carolina cities of Charleston, Greenville, and Bluffton. North Carolina areas volunteered were Charlotte, the Piedmont Triad, and the Research Triangle.
With the pandemic in full swing, we thought it would be prudent to ask which virtual ways members would like to connect with each other, resulting in an overwhelming vote for Webinars, followed by Roundtables and Happy Hours. In line with these interests, we have a great webinar scheduled for August 12th centered around social media data and making it a meaningful resource. We have held two Happy Hours and a Coffee Break (another soon in August) and a roundtable discussion is currently being constructed to present at our virtual fall conference. Make sure not to miss these offerings!
We also asked members for something that they wished our chapter provided that isn’t currently in place. Many of our members responded that nothing else is needed, a big compliment which we appreciate! Several responses offered suggestions of mentorships groups, micro gatherings, and a forum or listserv. These are all recommendations that we will take into consideration for the upcoming year. The next question was “What is your favorite go-to resource for prospect development?” Prospect L Listserv was the leading choice, followed by iWave PRO. We’ll be sure to pass along the compliment to iWave, one of our generous sponsors!
Thanks to those working hard behind the scenes, the Apra Carolinas website received a facelift and has recently been updated with a fresh new look. Regarding the design, a majority of the responses showed an overall positive response to the changes. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, please visit us at https://apracarolinas.wildapricot.org/.
In regards to our overlap with Apra International, the majority of our members are involved with both. It may help to know that Apra International will be offering discounted memberships for new members in 2021, so we’ll keep you posted with more details! We are pleased to learn that an impressive 44% of our member base have been working 10+ years in prospect development! The next largest group goes to those working for 3-5 years at 22%. This is very helpful for us to know as we plan programming for our conference sessions, webinars, and networking sessions. We’ll do our best to try and provide content that appeals to a range of experience levels.
In the concluding section, we had asked our members if they would be willing to serve as a resource for the Road Trip grants, which is an opportunity for members to visit other members for professional development. We are happy to report that 31 members responded that yes, they would be willing to serve as a resource. Thank you for your willingness to share your time and expertise!
We were very happy to learn more about you, the member, from our final question “What is one thing in prospect development that you would like to learn more about?” We were able to see that research, new trends, regional development programs, prospect management meetings, and many more interests are potential areas in which to grow. As always, we are constantly working to provide the best opportunities for our members so we will refer to these topics when we plan upcoming content. We are currently working on a multi-chapter collaborative conference for Spring 2021 so we appreciate all of the excellent ideas.
Thank you once again for participating in our membership survey. The responses help us to provide more opportunities and better content, benefiting all of our members and the field as a whole!
