By Janice Martin, Director of Membership & Special Projects
Step 1: Partner with Other Organizations
The key to a successful joining fair lies in collaboration with others in the community. Thinking outside of your specific box is a must.
Start by thinking about membership-based organizations in your area, but don’t stop there. Brainstorm and don’t leave any organizations or businesses off the table. Sometimes the best collaborations start from the most unexpected places. The larger the mix, the larger the attendee audience will be!
• Service clubs (Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis, etc.)
• Professional associations (local groups, members of national associations)
• Churches and faith groups
• Fitness communities (gyms, fitness centers, running clubs)
• Youth centered groups (schools, youth sports, scouts, boys and girls clubs, etc.)
• Hobby and gaming clubs
• Arts and cultural organizations
When contacting potential partners, keep it simple and be sure to clearly include the value of partnering.
• Explain the shared benefit to all partners (more exposure, shared costs, larger audience, larger volunteer pool available)
• Emphasize low risk and high reward
• Frame it as a community initiative rather than a membership sales event
• Include an invitation to a short interest meeting
Once you have interest, host a short planning session to begin the necessary conversations. Start talking about event concepts and goals like possible dates and locations, costs and the expectations of potential partners. Studies of community partnership events show that when collaorations across multiple organizations take place, audience reach and trust are built with attendees. 1
Step 2: Planning the Event
As they say: location, location, location! Everyone has attended an event where the location or venue created a negative impact on the experience for the attendees. If they experience a bad vibe, that can carry over to how they see those hosting the event.
• Is the chosen location centrally positioned to bring attendees for all partners and not just those that live in that specific area?
• Parking matters. You will need to make sure you have adequate availability, including accessible spots based on your audience, and will want to know about any related costs (free vs. paid).
• Ensure you have flexible space for tables, booths, and flow (for the ease of partners and attendees).
• The welcoming feeling should start before attendees enter.
Once inside a potential venue, be sure to think beyond tables in a room. What other areas will be needed? You will want to e
• A simple check-in/information area
• Flexible booth area
• Available open networking spaces
• Available mini-activity/demo areas
• Restrooms (include changing stations, clean, ADA compliant)
• Clear signage for easy navigation and exhibitor marketing
• Ease of access for those with mobility needs
• AV needs, including live music requiring a stage and sound
The goal is to create an experience that promotes a positive attendee experience through a well thought out layout that also give each partner the best possible stage to share what they have to offer possible members.
Step 3: Promoting the Event
One of the biggest advantages of a joining fair is shared marketing resources. Even when most participating partners use the same tools to get the word out, the reach dramatically increases. Research shows that participation and growth increased when multi-channel engagement strategies and consistent communication are in place. 2
Be sure to spend time identifying what promotional methods are going to provide the best positive impression with potential attendees. Then identify those that will actually be worth the desired return on investment, whether it be impact, time and/or money).
Step 4: Tracking What Matters
This may be your first joining fair, but to turn it into an annual success, you need to track the right data to learn what works and what doesn’t. Knowing who showed up is vital to having a baseline indicator of reach and effectiveness of promotions,3 and understanding how they showed up matters just as much. Start with the basics like total attendees, walk-ins versus pre-registered, and onsite registrations.
Demographics are also helpful, but let’s be honest, it’s trickier to gather. Simple sign-in sheets, questions during preregistration, and QR codes at check-in can all you help gather the important details you want to know about your attendees. Tracking event attendance effectively also offers critical insight as you strive to improve engagement and interest future joining fairs and other events. 4
Not every attendee will fully join the day of the fair, and that’s okay. Joining is a journey often starts with a simple hello. Keep in mind how an attendee wants to join depends on many things. Do they want to attend meetings? Do they want to volunteer only as event workforce for events? Remember, joining doesn’t mean becoming a club member; rather, a regular volunteer or repeat monetary donor are other ways they may engage with your club instead and certainly worth your attention and celebration.
By defining what “joining” means during the planning stage, you’ll have a clear list of what data matters, helping you determine what percentage of attendees take action that day and how many start the journey and join later. A typical conversion rate is 10%-30%, depending on the audience and event type. 5
Things to consider:
• Did they just attend?: May have stopped by a booth to get a closer look at handouts or hear an elevator pitch, grab the good candy, but learn more,
• Did they express interest?: Interest was enough to willingly share contact info for future outreach
• Did they formally join?: Completed the join process
• Did they make a monetary donation?: Contributed financially
• Did they make an in-kind donation?: Contributed with donated nonperishable food items, glasses, hearing aids, etc.
Discussions with partners during planning should include what to track and who to report it to. Have each partner and vendor provide a summary of what they gathered to a central individual so that it can be summarized into one master report for all interested parties. This document can, in turn, help demonstrate the value of the event to current partners and vendors while also attracting new ones.
Tracking donor engagement is especially important, as events are a major driver of both new donor acquisition and ongoing giving. Organizations that track and act on event data can improve future performance and decision-making significantly. 6
Step 5: Post-Event Follow Up
Don’t skip this! It’s more than just polite, it’s vital to build strong and long-lived relationships. This stands true for participating partners, vendors, venue contacts, and of course, the attendees.
Whether the follow-up is a thank-you note, a short report on the event, or outreach to attendees who expressed an interest in joining or volunteering, don’t wait! Keep the momentum going.
A few days after the fair, send a short survey or make phone calls to participating partners to collect helpful post-event testimonials to use in the future.
Service to Mankind in Action
Hosted by the Alexandria Sertoma Club, the recent Lakes Area Hearts of Service Festival is a great example of the community a joining fair can build. 7 Their event allowed local organizations to showcase their volunteer opportunities and programs to attendees. With a wide offering of opportunities, volunteer potential was easy to spot.
Joining fairs remind us that we’re all part of something bigger. When organizations work together, the results compound quickly. If you’re looking for a new way to grow your membership, it might be time to host a joining fair!
CITATIONS
1 Community-Academic Partnership Boosts Impact of Health Fairs [nihceal.org]
2 2025 Membership Performance Benchmark Report [associationtrends.com]
3 Metrics Matter: The Essential KPIs For Your Nonprofit’s Event Success [riggsand.com]
4 5 Ways to Track Nonprofit Even Registrations and Attendance [donorperfect.com]
5 What is Event Conversion Rate? How to Calculate and Use ECR [rallyup.com]
6 The Ultimate Guide to Event KPIs: Metrics to Track for Success [wildapricot.com]
7 First Annual Lakes Area Hearts of Service Festival [kikvradio.com]
