Elevating a Membership Campaign with Agile Strategy and Results

Membership growth and retention are ongoing challenges for many associations. For the National Association for Catering and Events (NACE), communicating the value of national membership in a way that resonated across its creative, engaged community was a key priority.

In partnership with Bostrom, NACE reimagined its annual fall membership campaign into a strategic, brand-aligned initiative that empowered local chapters, activated lapsed members, and modernized how the association delivers its value. 

In just six weeks, the campaign led to a 10% increase in national membership—demonstrating how thoughtful strategy, strong creative, and agile execution can drive meaningful results. 

This case study outlines the approach, solutions, and outcomes that helped shape a new standard for NACE’s membership strategy. 

The Challenge

Each fall, NACE runs a national membership drive to engage new prospects and re-engage lapsed members across its 40+ chapters. In recent years, however, the campaign’s creative direction and messaging had grown outdated, and the value proposition of national membership wasn’t landing as clearly as it could. Despite ongoing chapter-level activity, the initiative wasn’t yielding the growth NACE leadership envisioned. 

In 2024, NACE partnered with Bostrom to elevate this initiative of building a national strategy, empowering chapter-level execution, and positioning NACE as a career catalyst in a creative industry. 

Solution for Success

Bostrom worked closely with NACE leadership to design a more elevated, value-forward membership campaign that balanced creativity with clarity. The theme—“Pathway to Success”—introduced a unified visual identity (inspired by vibrant retro stripes and deep navy hues) and messaging —“to Connect, Build, and Thrive”— that reinforced NACE’s mission.

Key campaign elements included: 

• Dual Offer Discount Codes for New Members:
  • Bonus15 –  3  Additional Months (15 months for the price of 12)
  • NACE20 – 20% Off Dues
• Engagement Incentives:
  • Dues credit for individual member referrals and chapter rebate bonuses
• Creative Toolkit Deployment:
  • Weekly graphics, email templates, and engagement prompts shared via NACE’s member community platform.
  • National and chapter-level campaigns tracked using a live Monday.com dashboard
• Strategic Messaging:
  • Weekly themes derived from the tagline targeted at all prospective leads across social media (both organic and paid posts), targeted emails, landing pages and more published by NACE National and chapters. 

Outcome

In just six weeks, the campaign achieved:

• 10% overall increase in membership
• 78% of new sign-ups were first-time NACE members
• 30% of new members opted for the Bonus 3 Months offer
• Over 50% of chapters engaged with national campaign materials
• A surge in chapter growth tracking, fueling strategic decisions at the national level

Bostrom’s centralized Monday.com dashboard allowed both Bostrom and NACE leadership to monitor weekly trends, adapt tactics, and identify high-performing chapters—effectively gamifying the campaign and strengthening inter-chapter engagement.