Cause Machine

Building a Member Pathway

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Here is a simple truth that’s both powerful and most always forgotten… your members need a path to follow.  They are desperate for a path to follow.  And your leadership and stewardship demand you create a path to follow.  Yes, it’s that important.   

Big picture… you’re guiding people from having no idea who you are/what you offer to be deeply invested and an advocate of your vision.  

A Member Pathway is simple the journey they will follow as they engage in your community and what you offer them.  These are maps with intricate detail and nuanced side paths to make sure you capture and guide people well.  Let’s start with a few components of a Member Pathway and then talk about how you build and use this.

  • Visual - these are visual, not just a list of engagement points, but a visual map that charts the full engagement map from first exposure to your picture of thriving.

  • Spider Web - this map is going to be messy at first and look like a spider web of paths.  That’s good and normal… you’ll refine in time.  Embrace that it looks like a spider web of opportunities.  

  • Going Off Path - don’t just map the perfect journey… also capture where people are going to go off the path and leave your desired destination.  This is important to help prevent that and have tools there to bring them back on the path.  

  • Not Linear - while we often want to make these paths linear… they are not!  It’s good to have a general linear pathway, but be open to how messy and non-linear this might evolve.  

  • Access Anywhere - it’s also easy to want to see people walk a path from start to finish, but you have to take into consideration that people come in at various stages and maturities.  Build a path where people can come in at various stages.  

Always remember that it’s more important to think in steps for your members over programs and destinations… every engagement should be a next step.

I believe the best way to build a Member Pathway is to get a large sheet of poster board or a large whiteboard and start mapping out all the pathways, nuances, tributaries, off-ramps, etc.  Ask others to help you build this for where you are guiding your people.  

Once you’ve sketched your Member Pathway, then you’re ready to start putting this to action.  Here are a few ways to bring that to life in your organization.

  • Transfer to Software - now it’s time to move this from a sketch drawing to something a bit more professional.  There are various software systems to help with this.  I personally love Whimsical as a simple tool to build these types of flow charts.  

  • Refine with Others - take your newly designed pathway and hash it out with others on your team and your constituents to refine the concept and what might be missing.

  • Evaluate Your Process - take time to look at all of your member engagement processes and pathways to explore how you might refine and align to this newly crafter pathway.  

  • Evaluate Your Technology - review your technology solutions to see how they are helping and automating your Member Pathway.  They should be complimenting this and not working against your desired path.

Have fun building your Member Pathway and implementing it.  I’ve seen this done so many times and the excitement and clarity it brings has always been amazing.  Yes, there are going to be some pieces that are overwhelming about this… that’s normal.  Take a bite at a time and enjoy how you are better guiding people to success.

 

Cause Machine Solutions

The entire Cause Machine platform is designed around the concepts and goals of Member Pathways… working to guide members one step at a time to what’s next.  The platform helps you build pathways per membership tier and guide those members to better ways to connect and engage.  Guiding people through a path is part of the very framework of the platform and the vision we have for guiding people well.  Schedule a demo today!

 

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