Challenge: NAFA, The Fleet Management Association, planned to restructure its organization to adopt a regional model instead of its existing chapter model. The initial announcement sparked some outrage among a passionate minority who were vocal about their desire to retain chapter identities. NAFA needed to find a way to get members excited about the benefits of the upcoming changes, dispel misinformation and minimize the loss of members amid the restructure.
Solution: O&U worked with the NAFA team to build a steady cadence of fact-based communications that highlighted how the restructure would enhance the NAFA member experience.
During a nine-month campaign, O&U leveraged informational emails, fact sheets and FAQs, social media platforms, individual calls with chapter leaders, member webinars, website updates, specialized landing pages, in-person member events and strategic PR to keep the lines of communication open between association members and the NAFA staff and board.
Results: NAFA saw no notable loss of membership due to the restructure and received heaps of positive feedback from members excited about the change. The campaign succeeded in keeping members informed and excited about the change, even the vocal minority who originally threatened to leave. A year later, NAFA membership and conference attendance both saw increases.
