Membership director · illustrative example
Fractional membership director: an example brief
The short answer · updated
This is an illustrative example of a brief for a fractional membership director at a membership organisation: scope, a typical week, outcomes, how the work is reviewed and how the terms are set. It is not a vacancy and not a real engagement. The organisation is invented, and no rate or membership figure appears because we hold no primary source for one.
How to read this example
Illustrative only.
The organisation below is imagined: a professional body with a small team, a membership that has stopped growing and a board that wants a plan.
Nothing here describes a real client, and no one is hiring through this page.
Use it as a checklist for your own brief.
Change the scope, the days and the outcomes to fit your organisation.
For the seat itself, see our page on fractional membership jobs.
The situation in the example
The imagined body is a professional association run by a chief executive and a small staff, with a volunteer board.
The membership lead left three months ago.
The chief executive has been covering the role alongside everything else, and renewals have drifted.
The board does not need a full-time hire yet.
It needs someone senior to set the plan, fix the joining and renewal journey, and leave the team able to run it.
That is a typical case for a fractional hire: a defined problem, a limited period and a clear handover.
Our explainer on what fractional work is covers the model.
Scope of the role
A brief should name what the director owns and what stays with others.
In the example the director:
- owns the membership proposition, categories and the benefits members actually use;
- owns the joining journey and the renewal journey, from the first message to the lapse process;
- agrees a membership plan with the chief executive and the board, starting from the organisation’s own data and a view of its members’ reasons for joining and staying;
- works with the marketing and events staff on acquisition and engagement, and briefs outside agencies where the plan needs them;
- reports membership performance to the board in a form the trustees or directors can act on;
- does not own the finance function, the legal position on data and VAT, or the decisions reserved to the board.
The plan the director produces
The first deliverable is a written membership plan.
Our sister site Membership Quest sets out what a plan of this kind covers in its guide to membership strategy, and it is a reasonable outline to test the director’s own against.
The plan should be short enough for the board to read in one sitting, with the choices stated plainly: which members to win, which to keep, what to stop doing and what it will cost in staff time.
A typical week
The example assumes a part-week engagement.
The days are a decision for each organisation, and none is recommended here.
A typical week in the first quarter might look like this:
- Early in the week: a short call with the chief executive on priorities and blockers, then time with the data: joiners, lapsers, renewals and member contacts.
- Midweek: working sessions with the marketing, events and operations staff on the joining and renewal journeys, and conversations with a few members and former members about why they joined or left.
- Later in the week: drafting the plan, the briefs for any outside suppliers and the board paper, and agreeing what the team will do before the next session.
- Between sessions: a defined way to reach the director for decisions that cannot wait, agreed in advance. A fractional director is not available on the days they are not engaged, so the brief should say who decides then.
Rules the director must handle
Pricing and benefits decisions have tax consequences.
HMRC’s VAT Notice 701/5 explains how the VAT on a subscription follows the main benefit members receive, that unrelated benefits may need apportioning, and that subscriptions to some non-profit bodies, such as professional associations, learned societies and representational trade associations, can be exempt.
The director should ask finance before changing the benefits bundle.
Renewal and win-back messages are also governed by how members may be contacted.
The ICO’s direct marketing guidance covers the rules on electronic marketing by phone, email and text.
A good candidate knows when a message is promotional and when to take advice.
If the brief makes the fractional director a company director or trustee-style office holder, directors’ duties apply: GOV.UK guidance lists seven under the Companies Act 2006 and says they apply to anyone who acts as a director.
Most membership leads are not appointed to the board, and the brief should say so.
Outcomes the brief asks for
The example sets outcomes the board can check, without promising a result the director cannot control.
Targets are for the organisation to set from its own figures.
- a membership plan the board has approved, within the first agreed period;
- a joining journey and a renewal journey that are written down, owned by named staff and running;
- a measure of renewals and lapses reported to the board in the same way each quarter;
- briefs for any outside supplier, so that spend follows the plan;
- a handover: the team can run the work without the director, or the organisation has decided what to hire next.
How the work is reviewed
Review is built into the brief rather than left to the end.
In the example the chief executive reviews progress with the director at a fixed point each month, and the board sees the plan and a short report each quarter.
The organisation agrees at the start what would count as the work being on track, and a date to decide whether to extend, change the scope or stop.
A fixed review date is easier to keep than a general intention to check in.
Day rate or retainer
There are two usual ways to pay a fractional director: a day rate for the days worked, or a monthly retainer for a stated number of days.
The example does not give a figure for either.
We have not found a primary source for what membership directors charge, and an invented number would mislead.
Set the rate from quotes and from your own budget.
Whichever structure you choose, state the number of days, what is included and how long the agreement runs.
If the director works through their own company, the off-payroll working rules apply contract by contract and, in most cases, the client determines status; see our IR35 guide.
If you are writing your own brief
Copy these headings and write one short block under each:
- Situation: what has changed and why now.
- Scope: what the director owns, and what stays with others.
- Days and cover: the days, and who decides on the others.
- Outcomes: what the board will check, and by when.
- Review: who reviews, how often, and the date to decide what next.
- Terms: day rate or retainer, length, notice and status.
Questions people ask
Is this a real job or client?
No. It is an illustrative example with an imagined organisation.
There is no vacancy behind it, and no client is named or implied.
What does a fractional membership director do?
They own the membership proposition and the joining and renewal journeys on a part-time or fixed-term basis, agree a plan with the chief executive and board, and hand the work to the team.
See our page on fractional membership jobs.
How much does a fractional membership director cost?
We do not quote a figure here, because we have no primary source for one.
Ask for quotes against a written brief, and compare them on days, scope and length rather than on the headline rate.
Should the director be on the board?
Usually not.
Most membership leads report to the chief executive.
If the role carries a directorship, directors’ duties apply in full, so the brief should say so.
How long should an engagement last?
Long enough to deliver the plan and hand it over, with a review date at which the organisation decides to extend, change or stop.
The example sets one; the length is for each organisation to decide.