How do I calculate member retention?

Calculate Member Retention (Seasonal Systems)

We are thrilled to announce a new feature that will assist you in improving member retention in your CSA. Not only does the new member retention feature allow you to calculate member retention, it also allows you to easily email your members that have not been retained! You can now email incentives to members who have been a member in the past to encourage them to sign up. You can also email a survey to members who have not been retained to help you get a better understanding of members. This information will help you to understand how to improve your CSA to better fit your member needs.

How to filter for not retained members

Ask yourself "Which members from my 1st season have not signed up for my 2nd season?"
To find the answer, select the 2nd season from the dropdown at the top of the dashboard. In the image above this is where it says Summer 2014.
Then, click on the Members Tab
Click on the Accounts Bar
Select Not Retained. A window will open up where you can choose which previous seasons you would like to view non-retained members from. For example, if you are currently taking sign-ups for Summer 2014, if you would like to email all members from Summer 2013 who have not signed up for Summer 2014, you will select Summer 2013. Then, hit ok.
Finally, select Find. This will bring up a list of all members who were members in Summer 2013 but not in Summer 2014.

Calculating Member Retention

Farmigo makes it easy to calculate member retention. Because every member has an account in the Farmigo system, we can look at which members had accounts in the past that do not have accounts now. You can now easily calculate your member retention and set goals on how to improve. Below is an excel file that will allow you to easily calculate member retention. To use the file:

Download the file
Open it in excel
Use your dashboard to find the total number of members per season and enter them in the box on the top left
Use the member retention filters to find the total number of members not retained from the previous season
The excel file will automatically calculate your member retention in the bottom right box

Click on the file to the right to download the Member Retention Calculator >>>>>>>>>

member_retention_calculator.xlsx
File Size:	15 kb
File Type:	xlsx

Download File

Incentivizing Members Who Have Not Renewed

Members like to know that you remember them and that you are excited to have them as a member again. A good way of doing this is offering them a special discount code just for returning members. Farmigo allows you to create coupon codes for new members to use at signup. A coupon code can be a percentage discount or a flat dollar amount. Click here to learn how to create a coupon. After you create the coupon, click on the Members tab and apply the not retained filters and click the email button to send members a personal message.

Surveying Members Who Have Not Renewed

Knowing your member retention percentage is only half the battle. Understanding your member retention percentage will help improve your business. You can create a free survey using SurveyMonkey.com to ask your customers key questions to help you understand your member retention. Once you have identified the key trends in why members do not continue, you will be able to make strategic decisions to improve your business.

Here are some recommended questions:

Favorite CSA products
Least favorite products
Overall quality of products and service
Overall value for the price
Interest in being a member next year
Suggestions for improvement
Other comments

We have been seeing a trend that more members want more choice. If you are up for the challenge, Farmigo is a pro at managing customizable shares. If your customers express that this is important to them, and you feel that you would like to move to a customizable model, one of our technical advisors would be more than happy to meet with you and discuss the process.