Many associations survey their members, hold consultations, invite feedback — and then... not much visibly happens. The results get noted, perhaps discussed, and the members who took the time to respond never hear what came of it. Here's the uncomfortable truth: asking for feedback and then appearing to ignore it is often worse than never asking, because it teaches members their voice doesn't matter.
Closing the loop is the step that turns feedback into trust. It's telling members: here's what we heard, here's what we're doing about it, and here's why (including, honestly, what we can't do and the reasons). Members don't expect you to act on every suggestion — but they do expect to know they were heard and that their input went somewhere. That simple act of reporting back is what makes the next survey worth their time, and what makes members feel genuinely part of the organisation rather than occasionally consulted props.
This is one of the highest-return, lowest-cost things an association can do. The feedback you've already gathered is half-wasted if you never tell people what it led to.
Before you run the next survey, make sure you've closed the loop on the last one. Otherwise you're slowly teaching members not to bother.
Building genuine member feedback loops is part of What Every Association CEO Needs to Know.
Explore the Association CEO course
Free first step: the Membership Health Scorecard.
Annie
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