Member Relations Committee

If you're interested in serving, please contact Lisa Fitch. 

Charge

• New member relations- develop plan to contact new members and welcome them to the Academy and working with staff to assure the new member is aware of all the benefits of membership.
  • Member Relations Committee Liaison to provide member relations committee with monthly list of new members (both U.S. and International) to call and welcome. Contact information to be included on the list: First Name, Last Name, E-mail, State, Country, Office Phone number, Cell phone if provided. Lists are provided only for the purpose of welcoming new members.
• Retention- develop ideas to improve retention, survey members who leave and understand why they leave. In FY 2022 focus on the following segments:
  • Converting 75% of 4th Year Dental Students to Recent Graduates (Total possible: 53 members) (to be contacted quarterly)
  • Converting 40% of 5th Year Recent Graduates to Full Paying Doctor Rate (Total possible: 125 members) (to be contacted quarterly)
  • Establishing a retention rate for members less than 5 years (1,283 members) (to be contacted bi-monthly)
• Member Relations Committee Liaison to provide the member relations committee with the contact information of the individuals in the three segments outlined above. Contact information to be included on the list: First Name, Last Name, E-mail, State, Country, Office Phone number, Cell phone if provided. Lists are provided only for the purpose of connecting with existing members to have a conversation about the value that the AACD provides through key benefits.
• Develop programs / initiatives to generate new member leads and exposure of the AACD to the dental community.
• First time attendees to Scientific Session - contact first time attendees of the Scientific Session, and plan to connect with those assigned in person at the conference at the New Member Reception prior to the Welcome Reception.
  • Member Relations Committee Liaison to provide member relations committee with list of new members who are attending the conference for the first time, prior to the conference. Contact information to be included on the list: First Name, Last Name, E-mail, State, Country, Office Phone number, Cell phone if provided. Lists are provided only for the purpose of extending an invitation to meet at the Scientific Session. 
• In support of the mission of the Academy, all committee members will be responsible for recruiting three new AACD members.  This will be required for each body on which they serve.

Primary Duties

• Calling New Members
  • To increase retention, the Member Relations Committee members will call new members in the US to welcome them and find out why they joined the AACD. They will also guide them toward those member benefits that will help them achieve those goals as well as introducing them to other benefits. After the conversation, the committee members will send a follow up e-mail with their photograph as well as a response sheet to the Membership Staff Liaison and committee chair delineating the information they gathered during the phone conversation. If no phone contact is made within a week, the committee member will send a “Missed connecting with you at the office” e-mail asking the new member to contact the committee member by cell phone.
  • Contacting New International Members – International members will receive an e-mail sent by committee member asking them to download a “free international calling app” and scheduling appointment to talk. Just as in calling new members within the US, the committee members will fill out a response sheet and a welcome e-mail. If no contact is made within a week, the committee member will send the “missed e-mail”

Qualifications, Skills and Knowledge

• Excellent communication skills.
• Good organizational skills.
• Commitment to make the phone calls and sending follow-up e-mails
• Must have empathy with new members to understand their needs
• Be able to share their passion about AACD with new and first year members.
• Must be able to make the time to call 5 – 10 members every month and fill out follow-up paperwork and e-mail on a timely basis.

Time Requirements

• Attend 3 to 6 conference calls to meet with committee members
• Approximately 3.5 hours per month:
  • Includes call time
  • Sending follow up e-mail 
  • Time to fill out call response sheet

Length of Term

Two years

Committee Size

The Member Relations Committee will need one committee member for every 10 new or expiring members. If we have 100 new member/month and 100 soon to expire members a month for a total of 200, we will need 20 volunteers minimum.