Mentoring New Members in Professional Nursing Organizations for Membership Retention

Purpose: A lack of engaged, participating members of professional nursing organizations limits the overall impact that an organization could make on healthcare delivery, nurse leader development, nursing practice, and nursing scholarship. Mentoring can positively influence membership retention by fostering new member engagement and inclusion. This article discusses the benefits of mentoring new members of professional organizations within their first year of membership.Methods: Active, volunteer members of a local chapter of a professional nursing organization mentored new members within their first year of membership for 3-6 months. Mentors recorded the number and method of interactions with the mentee on a tracking tool. After four months of mentoring, data from a post-survey evaluated the new member’s engagement, inclusion, and likelihood of membership renewal.Findings: Mentors interacted with their mentees 1-3 times per month. After four months of mentoring, 60% of mentees were very likely to renew their membership in the organization, and none were unlikely to renew. Mentees engaged with the organization through mentoring and reading the chapter newsletter (80%), reported feeling included in organization activities (100%), and found personal contacts from their mentor meaningful (60%).Conclusion: Mentoring is a strategy to positively promote new member engagement, inclusion, and the likelihood of membership renewal in a professional nursing organization. New members benefit from a mentoring program that shares organizational benefits and opportunities for participation. A volunteer-based mentoring program is sustainable and adaptable to other professional organizations seeking to improve membership retention, engagement, and inclusion.