In March, Future Lab hosted another student placement: the Oxford Strategy Challenge. This programme is run by the Careers Service, University of Oxford, and is a one-week team-based strategy consultancy project.

Students Eran Voce, Ella Joseph, Angelina Mirraslavska, Will Cai, and Erin Ren came from a range of academic backgrounds to work together to assess HB&P’s current membership model and put together a proposal for the future strategic direction of the membership programme, to increase engagement and financial sustainability. The project involved both an internal assessment of HB&P’s membership, including member demographics, the events programme and the member-exclusive publications (the annual Journal and the thrice-yearly Heritage Now magazine), and a review of peer organisations’ membership activities via an in-depth analysis of their websites and annual reports to identify recommendations for good practice.

The students found that, while HB&P retained a core group of long-term, supportive members enjoying the publications and with much appreciation for the in-person and online events programme, the membership model faced some key issues:

• Income: Current membership income does not cover the full cost of delivering the programme. In particular, the costs of producing and printing the publications are very high.
• Audiences: Audience demographics are narrow; in particular, HB&P is not attracting young members.
• Events: Currently there is no differentiation for different audience segments and there is hidden potential that could be further capitalised on.

Following this research, they put together a proposed strategy, with the following recommendations:

• Develop the membership ‘community’
• Create a centralised online platform for member access to digital content, advice and networking
• Consider moving the publications to a digital / print hybrid model – members could choose which format they prefer
• Introduce online vs in-person memberships (online-only or full access to publications and both online and in-person events), as well as tiered membership bands (e.g. discounts for young people or over-60s)

In addition, the students recommended the following actions to make the events programme more appealing and run more smoothly:

• Develop themed talk series, possibly including a series of ‘hot topics’
• Consider talk packages or bulk discounts on events
• Develop events tailored to different audiences
• Develop guides and templates to ensure that speakers for online talks deliver to a consistent standard and that information about events and accessibility is clear and available upfront

The Future Lab team were extremely interested in the team’s recommendations. They align with some of the findings from our event programmes micro-internship, also conducted in March, and we will review them together with the results of our member and supporter survey, currently underway with external consultants Cultural Associates Oxford. Overall, we were delighted with the student team, who were enthusiastic, well-organised, efficient and creative, and hope to take part in the Oxford Strategy Challenge again.

Words by:

Christina Avramakis, HB&P Operations and Development Manager