Growing Your Club With Public & Member-Only Events

Trying to get new members through the door is a constant battle for any club committee. It will come as no surprise to anyone that events are always a massive driver of new members. It might vary a little by industry, but chances are your events are the most important factor in your members choosing to sign up.

When it comes to those events, one of the most important decisions is whether they are going to be locked down to members only or available to the general public. Both options can help attract new members, but each has its own unique pros and cons. So, let's break down which one you should use and when. 

Quick Summary: Public vs. Member-Only Events for Club Growth

If you want to use your event calendar to attract new sign-ups, you need a mix of both public and private events. Here is how each strategy works:

• Public Events (The Bait): Attract fresh faces by letting non-members experience your club's culture. To convert them into members, always display discounted member pricing right next to the full-price public ticket.
• Member-Only Events (The Hook): Reward loyalty and drive new sign-ups through "Fear Of Missing Out" (FOMO). Always keep these private events visible on your public calendar so non-members can see exactly what they are missing.
• The Hybrid Approach (The Set): The most effective strategy is to host public events while heavily favouring members with cheap entry, early-bird ticket access, and VIP perks.

How Do Public Events Attract New Members? 

This one might not need a great deal of explaining. After all, why events that non-members can attend are good at getting non-members into your club is hardly a mystery. However, like all things, public events are best used in moderation.

To use an unneeded metaphor, it’s like the difference between a shop giving out a few free samples to get people through the door and the shop giving out unlimited free samples.

You definitely want events where the public can register to attend and rock up without having to sign up for a year's membership. Turning up to one event and seeing if you like the activity and the community is a much smaller leap of faith than stumping up the cash for a full year. However, you need to ensure there are clear, strong incentives to become a member.

This might include:

• Only making some events open to the public (we will talk about this soon).
• Having prominently displayed member discounts on event tickets.
• Having prominently displayed member discounts on merchandise.
• Offering early-bird ticket access strictly for members before public release.
• Providing a members-only VIP area, fast-track entry, or free parking at the event.
• Giving members exclusive food, drink, or raffle vouchers upon arrival.

It’s really important that whichever ones you choose, you make sure that members of the public know about them. There is no good in having member benefits if they are hidden away on a page about being a member. Every time a member of the public buys a ticket, looks at your event list, or interacts with your organisation in any way, they should see exactly what they are missing out on. 

The Member Jungle system makes this easy. When a non-member looks at your event page or online store, the system can display both the public ticket price and the discounted member ticket price side-by-side. It can also show tickets and products that can only be purchased by members. It immediately shows them what they are losing out on by not being a member right at the point of purchase, which is exactly when they are most likely to decide to sign up. 

How Do Member-Only Events Attract New Members?

Now we come to member-only events. If public events are the bait, then these are the hook. The fear of missing out (FOMO) is a major driver of new members joining your club. 

When someone attends a public event, having a great time is important, but what really matters is what they saw on your website when they booked their ticket. They saw three other member-only events on the calendar, had the chance to see photos from exclusive events, and saw discounted members-only tickets. All of a sudden, they are riddled with the fear of missing out. 

However, there is a catch. To make this work, you actually have to show off your member-only events to the public. If you completely hide your private events behind a login screen, nobody knows they exist, so they can't create FOMO. A club website with no visible events or event photos unless you are signed in as a member looks like a blank, desolate club with no activity.

You want your event calendar to be visible to everyone, proudly displaying all those closed events.

Member Jungle lets you do this by making your event page and calendar viewable by the public while requiring people to sign in to register or buy tickets. It’s very easy to do, just set your event to public, but restrict all tickets or free registrations to members only. 

Essentially, you want every man and his dog to be able to see what you’re up to while ensuring they have to join to take part themselves.

The Hybrid Approach: The Best of Both Worlds

The point that I’ve been circling for some time now is that this is a little column A, little column B situation.

You could just host public events and get new members by giving them early access to heavily discounted tickets and merch. Or, you could host only private events, but get members by ensuring anyone who visits your website can see all the great stuff you’re up to. However, your best bet is to aim for a combination of both.

The average club runs 3.4 events a month, so maybe you want to make one of those events open to the public. This means you are running enough public events to constantly get new faces through the door, but keeping enough events member-only that you aren't giving away "too many free samples."

Ultimately, no matter what ratio you choose, your strategy will work as long as you stick to these golden rules:

For Public Events:

• Give members discounts on tickets and merch.
• Offer members early access to tickets before the public release.
• Provide added bonuses at the events to make their membership clearly worth it.

For Private Events:

• Ensure the public can still see your private events on your website calendar.
• Share event photos proudly on your website and social media.
• Make it crystal clear to the public that they must be a member to attend.

Events really are the lifeblood of your club. Finding that sweet spot between throwing the doors wide open and keeping things strictly member-only is how you keep your community growing year after year.

You want to give the public a taste of what makes your club great, but always make sure the perks of actually paying for a membership are front and centre.

Setting It Up In Your System

If you are wondering exactly how to configure all these different ticketing rules in your system, the Member Jungle system is built to handle public, private, and hybrid ticketing easily.

For a step-by-step guide on how to set up your event access so the public only sees what you want them to see, check out Event Tickets With Member Jungle - Can The Public Buy Tickets?

If you want to learn more about the event system in general, read How To Run An Event With Member Jungle - A Guide.