How the ISF eliminated the engagement challenges that came with the pandemic!
Members feeling excluded, onboarding time, member’s inability to network… solved with a community platform
What challenges did the ISF tackle?
As an Association, the ISF realised that their purpose is not to deliver events, be they online or offline.
Their purpose is to help seed companies and associations fight for the rights of plant growers and breeders.
Their mission is to make sure farmers around the world get access to quality seeds!
- Their events-only strategy was limiting their mission potential
- 50-60% of their members could not attend their in-person events
- Webinars did not help members interact, contribute or feel included
Ariah says in the interview: “What we really offer is access to the community that the ISF is.“
Connecting all of these seed companies and associations is what leads to the fulfilment of their mission.
Zoom webinars are not optimised for member conversations. They’re great for content consumption, but the chat function can’t really facilitate conversations or collaboration.
If 50-60% of their members couldn’t attend in person (to contribute and collaborate) – huge potential was left unrealised.
Their only repository of documents – great for downloading and consumption, but incapable of facilitating conversations and collaboration.
What solution did the ISF adopt?
Their goal was clear, they wanted all of their members to be able to:
- Participate in conversations and contribute to the association
- Feel a strong part of the ISF community
- Attract new members by showing the world what the ISF community is
This would tackle all of their engagement challenges and develop a vibrant community of members which are active, contributing and pushing the Association’s mission forward.
As Ariah says in the interview: “We will never be able to replace physical events”
But the goal is not to replace them. The goal is to add an online engagement layer around their core physical events, to utilise the maximum potential of their membership.
They’re doing just that with their online community platform.
“Online communities are a must for mission-driven organizations to stay relevant and increase their impact – Mathijs Vleeming
Online Community Evangelist
