Last week, we looked at the message that dominated the survey: community and a sense of belonging matter enormously to our members. That finding was not a surprise, but the strength of feeling was. It also gives us an important principle to take forward: when making decisions, we should always consider how what we do can help build and strengthen our community.
There was, of course, much more to learn from the survey.
This week, we’re looking at what members value most and what they use most.
Members were presented with a list of different aspects of British Naturism and asked to identify those they valued and used most. Looking at those two measures together gives us a useful way of thinking about priorities.
You could almost see the two questions as asking different things: what do we really want from British Naturism, and which are the tools we use to deliver it?
That comparison produces some interesting conclusions.
High value – high usage
These are the strongest elements: things that members both value highly and actively use. They are clearly important parts of the membership experience and need to be maintained and supported.
Online information
Supporting Naturism
Reassurance of being a member
It was particularly encouraging to see that some of the most valued and most-used aspects are, fundamentally, about Naturism itself.
That tells us that, while there are certainly areas where we can refine and improve, British Naturism remains at its heart what we believe it should be: an organisation that supports Naturism and provides reassurance to people who want to be part of it.
That is a pretty reassuring finding in itself.
Sound value – sound usage
These features perform well, with both value and usage at healthy levels:
Campaigning and advocacy
Legal helpline
National events
There is sometimes debate about whether British Naturism should primarily be an organisation that provides experiences and opportunities, or one that campaigns and advocates for Naturism.
The survey provides a useful answer: we need to be both.
The strong and broadly comparable ratings for these different aspects show the breadth of what members expect from British Naturism. Narrowing our focus too much in one direction could leave other members feeling that something important to them has been lost.
We don't have limitless resources, of course, and choices will always have to be made. But the message from members is clear: the breadth of British Naturism is a strength, and we should aim to maintain a strong presence across these different areas.
High value – lower usage
There is one particularly interesting feature in this category:
Community
This is a perfect example of why survey results need to be considered rather than simply read as a league table.
Given how highly members value community, it was always likely that its value score would be higher than its usage score. There is also a fundamental question about what it means to use community. Is attending an event using community? Is chatting to another member online? Is simply knowing that you belong somewhere?
Whatever the answer, the important finding is the exceptionally high value placed on community.
It reinforces the conclusion from our first article: supporting opportunities for members to connect, meet and build relationships needs to be central to what we do.
Reasonable value – higher usage
This may be the most interesting group of all.
BN Magazine
Regional events
Forum
These features are used by a relatively large proportion of members, but their value scores aren't quite as high as those in the categories above. That doesn't mean they are performing badly. Far from it. Instead, they represent perhaps our greatest opportunity to improve the membership experience, because changes here could benefit a significant number of members.
Take BN Magazine. More than two thirds of members read it, making it one of our most effective ways of communicating with the membership. The value score is already good, but the combination of high usage and room for improvement means there is an opportunity to make something that many members already use even better. You'll see more on that in the coming weeks as we explore how the magazine could evolve.
Regional events are another particularly important opportunity. Given the importance members place on community, it is no surprise that local events have such a significant role to play. They provide one of the best opportunities to turn the idea of community into something tangible: meeting people, making friends and creating connections close to home.
The Forum provides another interesting finding. We already knew that there were aspects of the Forum that could be improved. What we weren't previously clear about was how many members actually use it. The survey answers that question. There are enough members using the Forum to make investing some effort in improving it worthwhile.
What do members really value?
These conclusions become even more interesting when we move beyond the structured questions and look at what members said in their own words. Question 1 asked respondents to select their two most valued aspects from a predetermined list. That gives us a useful and consistent measure, but it is still a structured exercise. Question 3 was very different, members were simply asked:
“What is the main reason you are a member of British Naturism?”
There was no list to choose from and no restriction on what they could say. This gives us a much more open window into what really motivates people.
When those free-text answers were subsequently assigned to the same categories used in Question 1, the overall order was similar. But something particularly interesting happened: the proportion of respondents identifying Supporting Naturism, Reassurance of Being a Member and Community actually increased.
In other words, when people were given the freedom to explain their membership in their own words, these aspects became more apparent.
We can take the analysis one step further. Rather than restricting the answers to the predetermined categories, we also looked for recurring themes within the responses themselves. The result was striking.
“Supporting and promoting Naturism” was the dominant theme, appearing in more than half of the responses.
“Community and belonging” appeared in approximately one third.
Other themes were also significant. Membership value and benefits and events and activities were each mentioned by around one in five respondents.
These findings are important because they put the practical aspects of membership into context. The benefits, events and activities matter. They are part of what makes membership enjoyable and worthwhile. But they appear to sit behind two broader motivations: supporting and promoting Naturism, and belonging to a community.
What does this mean for the future?
The survey is beginning to give us a very clear picture.
People join British Naturism because they want to be Naturists, they want to support and promote Naturism, and they want to belong to a community of people who share that interest and understanding. The events, magazine, Forum, information and other membership benefits are important because they help us deliver those things. That gives us a useful way to think about our priorities.
Supporting and promoting Naturism, and creating a sense of belonging, should be at the heart of what we do.
Events and activities are fantastic ways of delivering those core desires, so we should make sure they are designed and supported with that purpose in mind.
BN Magazine is already doing a good job of supporting those aims, but there is clearly an opportunity to push it further. And regional events and the Forum offer perhaps the greatest opportunities to strengthen the things members have told us matter most.
So, as a result of what members have told us, you can expect to see further work in these areas over the year ahead.
This is exactly why the survey matters. It isn't simply about collecting opinions or producing interesting statistics. It gives us evidence to help make better decisions about where we focus our time, energy and resources.
And, most importantly, those decisions are being shaped by what our members have told us they value.
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