The Transparency and Accountability Initiative (TAI) is a donor collaborative of the world’s leading funders of transparency, participation, and accountability work. Upon analyzing our annual member survey and collaboration case note findings, we determined there was room for improvement in our member engagement practices. Seeking to improve, we interviewed 9 collaboratives to learn what is and is not working for them in terms of member engagement.
The collaboratives interviewed vary in size, sectoral focus, and approach; some have hundreds of members versus less than ten, some are pooled funds, a few have deliberately limited public profiles, some are entirely dependent on member dues/grants while others relying on a mix of grants and income-generating activities.
This document distills findings from the interviews across the following four themes (including TAI’s experience where applicable):
Individual Member Engagement
Collective Member Communication
Member Service Lines
External Profile/Engagement
This document does not attempt to make recommendations or identify best practices but hope that it does provide rich food for thought in shaping your collaborative’s member engagement strategy.