Overview
Understanding and tracking member engagement is critical for cooperatives aiming to build stronger, more loyal communities. A well-defined Member Engagement Score (MES) provides measurable insight into how actively members are participating in the cooperative’s activities, governance, and offerings. This best practice outlines how to define, calculate, and apply an MES for continuous improvement.
Core Tactics:
- Define what engagement means for your co-op. Start by identifying key actions that demonstrate engagement: voting, attending events, responding to surveys, using services, or contributing to discussions.
- Assign weight to each activity. Not all engagement actions are equal. For example, attending a board meeting might be weighted more heavily than clicking a link in an email.
- Develop a scoring rubric. Use a points system to tally engagement by member over a set time period (e.g., quarterly or annually).
Engagement Rubric Sample:
| Activity |
Points |
Rationale |
| Attended AGM |
4 |
Signals high-level governance participation |
| Voted in elections |
4 |
Core democratic participation |
| Attended educational event |
3 |
Indicates ongoing co-op learning and interest |
| Responded to member survey |
2 |
Helps drive data-informed decisions |
| Used co-op services regularly |
1 |
Reflects passive engagement through usage |
- Analyze and segment the data. Group members into segments (e.g., highly engaged, moderately engaged, unengaged) to tailor your outreach and programming.
Outreach Strategies by Engagement Segment:
| Segment |
Characteristics |
Suggested Actions |
| Highly Engaged |
Consistently scores 15+ per quarter |
Invite to leadership, testimonials, mentor programs |
| Moderately Engaged |
Scores 6–14 per quarter |
Share impact reports, invite to participate more |
| Unengaged |
Scores under 6 per quarter |
Personalized re-engagement emails, quick surveys |
- Incorporate MES into strategic planning. Use the data to shape member services, retention campaigns, leadership development, and voting encouragement.
Suggested Resources
Member Engagement Score Calculation Template:
| Member ID |
Event Attendance (3 pts each) |
Survey Responses (2 pts) |
Votes Cast (4 pts) |
Services Used (1 pt) |
Total Score |
| 00123 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
20 |
| 00145 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
| 00167 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
15 |
Download Member Engagement Score Calculator (Google Sheet)
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