A member spends a Friday afternoon finishing an abstract submission form. They attach their documents, check every answer twice, and click submit. Then they wait. What your association does during the application process itself and what comes after shape whether that member stays involved.
For many members, application processes like abstracts, awards, and grants are among the most personal engagements they have with your association all year. When submissions, reviews, and messages live in an all-in-one application management platform, you can see the whole member experience and more effectively leverage your application processes for member engagement.
In this guide, we’ll cover ways to improve application processes for member engagement from the submission experience, the follow-up after decisions, and the member data behind both.
Design application processes for positive first impressions
A clear, trustworthy submission form tells applicants you value their time, and it reduces the risk of them abandoning an application partway through. These four changes help improve the user experience on application forms the most, listed in the order an applicant encounters them:
- Match the portal to your brand. Add your organization’s logo, colors, and fonts so applicants know right away that they’re in an official, secure space. Branding also includes messaging elements like your association’s mission statement, tagline, and tone of voice, which should feature prominently in your submission portal as well.
- Shorten the form with conditional logic. Conditional logic shows or hides fields based on an applicant’s membership type, past involvement, or previously shared data. Pair it with a drag-and-drop form builder so staff can adapt forms for different member segments and application opportunities without developer support.
- Let applicants save and return to submissions. Grant proposals and abstracts take time to write well. Auto-save protects partial entries, so applicants can finish over a few days if they don’t have time to submit their form in one sitting. Mention this capability at the top of each form, because many people don’t realize they can leave and come back.
- Send automated progress updates. Confirmations right after submission, notes when their status changes, and reminders before the deadline keep applicants informed without extra staff work. Look for an application management platform that includes automated communication tools to handle these updates alongside your other member communications.
A seamless submission process combined with clear updates during waiting periods builds trust, and applicants who feel respected and informed are more likely to apply again, even if you reject their first submission.
Turn every decision into an invitation to stay engaged
You probably already know that decision messages are important for kicking off the recognition process for successful applicants. What you may not realize is that applicants who didn’t win have already shown they care about your mission, making them some of your best candidates for future volunteer roles. Treat the decision as the start of the next conversation, not the end of this one. These follow-up moves put that principle into practice:
- Personalize every decision message. Use the applicant’s name, mention the program they entered, and keep the tone warm for good and bad news alike.
- Share short, specific feedback. Tell unsuccessful applicants what would strengthen future entries, such as a clearer grant budget or stronger recommendation letters for an award. The more specific the feedback, the better. When the advice is kind and usable, a no reads as a step forward.
- Invite them into a role. Applicants already know your programs from the inside, so ask them to join a committee, mentor a newer member, or review submissions. As OpenWater’s guide to competition judging notes, a panel with varied professional backgrounds gives a more balanced review, and a running list of past reviewers makes recruiting easier going forward. Keep conflicts of interest in mind, and don’t seat someone on the panel for an opportunity they previously entered.
- Celebrate winners publicly. Share their stories in your newsletter and on your association’s social media channels. Members see what involvement looks like, and future applicants get a model to follow.
Follow-up like this shows members what they get from belonging beyond a single outcome and helps you uphold your members’ wellbeing. Short volunteer tasks are among the best ways to add value to a membership, and they make an easy first ask for continued engagement.
Use member data to personalize what members see next
Each application adds to what you know about a member—which programs they enter, what they care about, and where they get stuck. However, you can only leverage that information if it’s accessible and easy to analyze. Here are a few ways to make your application process data more useful to your association.
Connect your AMS to your submission data
According to iMIS, an association management system (AMS) is the central database for an association’s member records, dues, events, and participation. Connecting this platform to your application management system sets up a two-way sync, meaning information moves in both directions automatically.
With this integration, member details fill in automatically when someone starts an application, which saves applicants from retyping their contact information. Submission results then flow back into that member’s profile, so staff see one complete record.
If members will notice the change, such as a pre-filled form, tell them why first. Associations that handle introducing changes to members well tend to explain the reasoning up front and ask a few respected members to try the new setup before launch.
Track application processes for member engagement year over year
Once your data is connected, using your AMS alongside built-in reporting and analytics capabilities helps you track member engagement both holistically and individually. Reviewing these insights each cycle allows you to identify macro-level trends in your programs while pinpointing tailored opportunities to deepen relationships with individual members. To start, three key data points tell you the most:
- Participation history: Which programs each member has applied to, won, or supported as a volunteer.
- Participant satisfaction ratings: Feedback collected from applicants about their overall experience to help improve future submission cycles.
- Interest signals: Topics, awards, or grants a member keeps returning to, which you can use to decide which events and content to send to that member.
Analyzing this application data allows you to determine tailored next steps for member engagement based on past participation. Periodically reviewing these insights helps you continuously refine and improve your programs over time.
A smooth submission experience, thoughtful follow-up, and connected member data can turn each application and review process you run into a chance to build and maintain your relationship with your members. When applicants feel informed, valued, and welcomed back, your application process becomes a steady source of long-term members. Members who apply are already asking to be part of something, and how you respond may make or break whether they stay.
Contributor: OpenWater
