Be a Member

Abstract

Associations have been around for centuries but for the last decade they are struggling with recruiting and retaining the younger generations. This thesis focusses on a specific type of association, namely a professional association. The organization that is the subject of this thesis is the BNO, the professional association for Dutch designers. The goal of this project is to find a way for the BNO to attract and retain more members. It is no longer self-evident for professionals to join a professional association. Where the Baby boomer generation became members for life because that is ‘just what you did’, the younger generations tend to continually ask “What’s in it for me?” and act like members not clients. An important classification for the types of members used in this thesis is the one given by Sladek (2011). She classifies members into givers and takers. Givers willingly pay dues and volunteer their time as they see it ‘as the right thing to do’ (are often from the Baby boomer generation). Takers on the other hand say “I will show up if you can show me value”. In this thesis Frame Innovation is used as the method. Problems that are characterised as being open, complex, dynamic and networked are analyse, explore and redesign with the nine steps of this method. To understand the problem, six paradoxes where developed that lead to the definition of a new problem statement: there seems to be a lack of overview and purpose in the BNO portfolio which makes the portfolio seem like a patchwork of services. This problem was translated into a design goal where the patchwork is transformed into a coherent portfolio with a clear purpose and overview in order to establish the value of the BNO more clearly. Later a core paradox was added to better understand why the problem was hard to solve: The BNO is an association, however at the same time it calls itself a professional organization. These two roles contradict each other on some important aspects. Subsequently, the context was established which represents the inner circle of stakeholders and the interpersonal relationships and value exchanges between them. The same was done for the field but then with potential stakeholders. The Context and Field helped discover the factors that underlie the needs, motivation, and experiences which are necessary to define the themes for this project. There are three main themes for this project: Representation, Value and Responsibility. These main themes are supported by four sub-themes: Sense of identification, Recognition and acknowledgement, Relationship and Centralisation versus decentralisation. What follows is the development of frames that allow for the reframing of the problem. In this thesis six frames were defined. These frames were: The BNO as 1) an educational institute, 2) a polar expedition, 3) a National Park, 4) a café, 5) a travel agency and 6) a solar system. With the themes and frames six potential futures for the BNO portfolio were developed. From this, one final frame was chosen to redesign the BNO Patchwork: the solar system. This frame allows to focus on building an emotional connection with members as the solution. It emphasizes the BNO’s whish for members to see the membership as relational based and not transactional. The solution is a portfolio framework where, by actively involving members, responsibilities are taken both by the BNO and its members. This is done through three zones of the framework that are translated into three sub-portfolios: the Team portfolio, Collective portfolio and Member portfolio. This division defines clear roles for both the BNO and its members. With the framework the BNO is able to establish a portfolio with the motto ‘An association is something you build together’ leading to more a more sustainable approach to memberships.