How Do We Build a More Diverse Membership?

What is this advice about?

Historic England believes that an inclusive heritage sector is a resilient one, which better represents and addresses the needs and concerns of society, and is relevant to a greater number of people.

This advice is for heritage organisations of any size or scale that have a membership model, but is particularly aimed at volunteer and community-led grassroots heritage groups. This resource is designed to provide information on why diverse memberships matter and how to reach and engage with diverse communities to build and sustain that membership.

What are the key points?

What is a 'diverse membership'? What are the benefits?

A diverse membership is one that reflects a rich variety of people, as well as the demographics of the area the membership covers. It means people from different backgrounds, communities, and identities coming together over a shared passion, interest, or curiosity.

With this diversity also comes a range of lived experiences, skills, perspectives, and knowledge. This is helpful for organisations as it represents a wide pool to draw on when needed. It can help organisations face challenges through informed decision-making and strategy, as well as providing the broadest possible supporter base, resulting in stronger financial resilience.

A diverse membership can also mean people with different levels of knowledge and experience in engaging with heritage. There may be experts with decades of experience, as well as people with a new interest just starting out on their exploration of heritage.

Many funders will also require evidence of your connection to (and impact on) communities and individuals as part of the grant application and evaluation process. Demonstrating a diverse audience, alongside some evidence of how they benefit from being a member, is excellent evidence for this. It will also demonstrate to funders that your organisation is sustainable and resilient by showing that you are reaching the widest possible audience and supporter base.

How can we find out who is already in our membership? Can we really ask our members this information?

Surveying your members or capturing basic demographic information when they join is an important measure of who your audience is, and who might be missing.

Surveys of this kind can feel daunting, especially when considering GDPR requirements and concerns about the appropriate language to use in navigating challenging conversations about inclusion, diversity, and equality.

However, with some simple steps in place, surveys can be an effective and safe tool for developing your organisation:

1.

Introduce the concept to your members through your usual communication channels, such as email updates, newsletters, or in-person meetings.

You can use some of the information and tips in our resource on workforce diversity surveys to help with these conversations.

2.

Decide on the questions for your survey.

It is a good idea to start with the protected characteristics outlined in the Equality Act 2010 and use the categories established by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), allowing your data to be compared to national figures, such as census data.

You may also want to add questions around caring responsibilities and social mobility, using questions developed by the UK Government. Avoid anything that could compromise the anonymity of the participants, such as requesting postcodes or other identifiable information, including email addresses.

3.

Choose an established platform to collect your data.

It should have a robust privacy policy and demonstrate compliance with GDPR, such as Microsoft Forms or Google Forms.

4.

Develop a strong plan to ensure the captured data is kept securely.

For example, on a laptop that is password-protected and stored securely. Ensure only relevant individuals have access to it (a process known as access controls).

5.

Ensure that you clearly communicate the purpose of the survey to participants.

Also, communicate your intentions for the data, including how it will be stored and processed in accordance with GDPR.

6.

Have a set time period for the survey, and plan in some time to analyse the results.

By following these steps, you will have a robust survey that provides valuable data on your membership. From there, you can explore who you have already reached and identify your potential growth audience.

How can we find out who our potential audience could be?

There are many freely available, high-quality sources of information on local, regional, and national demographics, which can give organisations a strong insight into who their potential audience could be.

The Census Maps from the Office for National Statistics break down regions by many different measures. The current data set is from the 2021 census.

Official statistics from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government can also offer interesting insights and different types of data on localities and regions.

You can also conduct some local research to gain insight into communities near you that could be potential members. Look into specific community centres or associations led by and representing communities. There may also be prominent local charities or organisations led by specific groups who can be important key connections to people who would otherwise not naturally engage with your organisation.

What are potential motivations for new members?

People become members of societies, groups or organisations for different reasons. In heritage-based groups, this is usually due to an interest or curiosity, a personal connection, or a link to someone's career. However, understanding different motivations can help you understand how to attract diverse members.

Examples of membership motivations are:

• Meeting like-minded people and socialising
• Networking with the hope of professional connections
• Sharing expertise built over their career
• Learning more about their local area, as they didn't have this in their formal education
• Leaning into an interest they weren't able to follow up as a career path, despite existing interest or knowledge
• Career development – volunteering is still an important element of career development in the heritage sector
• Skills development, which can be especially key for young people, adults changing careers, and people seeking career boosting opportunities
• Wanting to connect with local heritage and people as a recently arrived resident

Organisations can lean into one or more of these areas, depending on who they identify as missing from their membership.

For example, if there is a lack of young people, consider what you could offer young members in terms of experience and skills development. They could design and deliver events, engage with communities at outreach events, or conduct research.

What are our first steps to diversifying membership?

Once you have the evidence of what your membership currently looks like and who it could potentially include, it's time to start planning some actions to reach that potential membership.

Make sure you set realistic goals and targets, and remember that getting started is the key. Diverse memberships take time to build through a process of establishing trust and relationships, so don't rush this process.

The first step is to ensure that all members of the organisation's governance, committee, or staff are on board with the process. This ensures that the organisation is ready to welcome more diverse members, and people can feel welcome and valued when they join.

The best way to achieve this is to set goals and targets together, as well as setting the values your organisation represents, so all can agree to work towards them. Though this can be a challenging conversation, it can help to frame it in terms of the resilience and sustainability of your organisation – that more members will mean more supporters, more income, and more impact.

Some ideal early steps can be:

• Evaluate what you offer members. Consider the potential motivations for your membership – what is missing from your membership offer that you could realistically deliver? What could attract more members?
• Identify a key group missing from your membership and reach out to a prominent local organisation or group led by them. These groups will already have a relationship of trust with communities, and you can reach people through them. Invite them to a talk or event you have organised, or offer to go and host an event with them
• Host an event such as a stall or display in a high-traffic public area, such as a shopping centre, to meet people in their own space, rather than relying on them finding you
• Look at your membership model. Can you offer lower rates for specific groups with known financial barriers to participation, such as people with disabilities, caregivers, unemployed individuals, or young people?

You can find more tips and information in our resource 'How Do We Affect Culture Change in Our Organisation so a Diverse Board Is Welcome and Effective?'.