Enhancing your members’ satisfaction can be achieved effectively by offering them membership cards. While the process of creating may appear simple, it’s important to recognize that the design and distribution of your membership cards can significantly influence your members’ contentment and, surprisingly, their likelihood to remain engaged and loyal.
You may also like to explore innovative ways of designing event websites to complement your membership card initiatives.
Membership Cards: Their Purpose and Advantages
A membership card, whether physical or digital, serves as tangible evidence of an individual’s affiliation with your organization.
- These cards serve a variety of purposes, including granting admission to events and providing access to exclusive member benefits. Additionally, if your organization collaborates with partners who extend discounts to your members, these membership cards serve as the gateway to accessing those discounts;
- Traditionally, membership cards were crafted from materials like paper or plastic. However, an increasing number of organizations are embracing the digital age by transitioning to digital membership cards. It offers several advantages, such as ease of creation, distribution, and updates, especially as your membership base expands;
- Moreover, members tend to favor digital cards since there is virtually no risk of forgetting or misplacing them, unlike their physical counterparts.
Advantages of Membership Card Templates
Whether you opt for physical or digital membership cards, the use of membership card templates can save you countless hours of laborious manual work.
Even if you currently have just 25 members, manually designing each card might appear manageable. However, this approach lacks scalability. What if your membership eventually expands to include 100, 200, or even 500+ individuals?
With templates at your disposal, you can effortlessly generate an unlimited number of cards with just a few clicks. Moreover, should the need arise to update all your membership cards with a fresh logo or additional information, you can accomplish this task within minutes.
Essential Components for Your Membership Cards
The content you choose to include on your membership cards should align with both your organization’s needs and your members’ preferences. While not every element listed below is mandatory, this serves as a valuable starting point for your consideration.
- Your organization’s name, logo, physical address, website, and contact information;
- Member-specific details such as their full name, unique ID number, photograph, and signature;
- The member’s designated membership tier;
- Key dates including the “Member since” commencement date and the membership expiry date;
- Guidelines outlining the permissible and prohibited uses of the card, which may vary based on membership tiers;
- A scannable barcode, facilitating efficient membership verification and card usage tracking.
Microsoft Word for Crafting Membership Card Templates
When it comes to crafting physical membership cards, a popular solution is harnessing Microsoft Word’s mail merge feature. This process entails:
- Establishing a membership card template within a “labels” format;
- Selecting a data source, typically from your Excel file;
- Aligning the mail merge fields in the card template with the corresponding columns in your Excel file;
- Executing the merge and initiating the printing process.
If you’re new to mail merge, we recommend referring to our comprehensive guide, “How to Use Mail Merge to Create Custom Membership Cards,” for more in-depth instructions.
For the initial step, you have the option to either create your own membership card template or utilize one of our pre-designed templates.
Printing and Distributing Your Membership Cards
When it comes to the printing of your membership cards, you have a couple of alternatives available. One option involves utilizing an internal printer along with perforated card stock. Alternatively, you can export the card file and entrust the printing task to an external printing service. These external printing services offer a variety of card stock options, including the possibility of producing durable plastic cards.
Each of these choices is linked to its own set of costs. It is important to mention that outsourcing to an external printing service becomes the most cost-effective when you are producing a substantial batch of membership cards all at once. If your membership growth is limited, and you are only enrolling a few new members, the per-card cost may become prohibitively high, making internal printing a more practical option.
Regarding distribution, the straightforward approach is to distribute membership cards during your next in-person member meeting. However, if in-person gatherings are not feasible, you may need to contemplate the option of mailing the cards to your members, which introduces additional logistical and cost considerations.
Drawbacks of Microsoft Word for Membership Card Templates
Although the Microsoft Word mail merge feature is an option for crafting membership cards, it often presents users with challenges that can be frustrating, time-consuming, and cumbersome.
Here are some typical issues that membership managers frequently encounter:
| Limitations | Description |
|---|---|
| Limited Design Capabilities | Microsoft Word primarily serves as a word processing tool and lacks robust design features, making it less suitable for intricate card designs. |
| Formatting Variances | Variations in member data, such as differing name lengths, may require manual adjustments for each membership card, leading to potential errors. |
| Alignment Complexities | Achieving precise alignment between your Word file and perforated card stock during printing can be a time-intensive and challenging process. |
| Incompatibility with Digital Cards | Microsoft Word’s mail merge functionality is not suitable for creating digital cards, which are eco-friendly, easier to distribute, and preferred by many. |
Conclusion
Establishing a streamlined and effective membership card system is crucial for enhancing the member experience and elevating your organization’s retention rates. Whether in physical or digital form, these cards serve as a symbol of an individual’s affiliation with your organization, granting them access to a multitude of benefits. The use of membership card templates not only saves time but also contributes to maintaining uniformity and professionalism. As your organization expands, transitioning to a digital platform can bring numerous advantages, including easy distribution and an environmentally friendly approach. Ensure that your membership cards include essential information and leverage tools such as Microsoft Word or comprehensive membership management software to simplify the process. Keep in mind that a well-structured and visually appealing membership card can represent a small yet significant step toward enhancing member satisfaction.