allman horrocks consulting (ahc) : membership research

case study: strategic research: british veterinary association

Project Summary
The British Veterinary Association (BVA) is the national representative body for the veterinary profession with over 11,000 members. It was established in 1952 from the National Veterinary Association (1882). Since then it has grown to be one of the leading veterinary membership associations in the world, with over 11,000 members.

The BVA operates in the veterinary membership services market, generating income from subscriptions, publications and services. The BVA’s role is to represent the veterinary profession and help members fulfil their professional roles.

The BVA asked AHC to help it undertake a survey of members and non-members during June and July 2007.

Research Objectives: Members research

To measure and evaluate BVA member satisfaction;
To gain an understanding of whether members felt they were adequately represented as a profession, by the policy and lobbying activities undertaken by the BVA, including whether they are consulted enough;
To examine members’ perceptions of the publications and services offered by the BVA as part of their membership package;
To gain an understanding of members’ views on current and recent marketing activity;
To inform future member marketing activity; including the development of retention strategies;
To allow BVA to adapt our services and policy activity, if necessary, to suit member expectations and needs.

Research Objectives: Non-members research

To assess non-members perceptions about the BVA;
To gain an understanding of the barriers which prevent non-members from joining;
To inform future non-members marketing recruitment campaigns.

Taking into account how busy vets are, we decided to conduct this survey using our online survey tool, thus enabling them to complete it at their own convenience. This was also extremely cost effective and enabled us to maximise the response levels and gain a far larger sample than would have been possible through other forms of research such as telephone or postal surveys.

We were therefore able to canvas the opinion of over 1000 vets, without disturbing them during working hours. The response rate indicated not only their willingness to participate but also the effectiveness of our web-based tool.

"This was a first for us" said BVA President Nick Blayney "but it will certainly not be the last. We were absolutely delighted at the way in which AHC's hands-on approach enabled us to meet our objectives. We are keen to listen to our members and respond to their needs and certainly intend repeating the surveys at regular intervals."

Vicky Watkins, Marketing Manager at the BVA added:
"We chose AHC as our partner for this project because we liked the flexibility of their approach and thought their experience of working with membership organisations would be invaluable in helping us to capitalise on the findings from this research. Their interactive approach, involving us in workshops to develop actions from the research findings, has been extremely rewarding and provided invaluable information."