Why recent email authentication changes matter to unions, and what we should do about it 

In recent months, technical standards for all bulk email have been tightened. It’s started as a response to changes in the US, but as of this month will be affecting everyone. At the TUC, we’re seeing some cases of union email not getting through to the members and stakeholders we want to communicate with.   That’s a … Continue reading Why recent email authentication changes matter to unions, and what we should do about it 

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Migrating your union’s data to a new CRM

A TUC Digital Lab practical guide Your CRM contains the heart of your union’s data. It manages your key interactions with members and your intelligence about what’s happening to the union over time. As such, migrating your data from one CRM to another absolutely must succeed in a way that keeps the integrity of that … Continue reading Migrating your union’s data to a new CRM

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Moving to Dynamics at CWU: a case study from discovery to delivery 

Back around April 2022, our Senior Deputy General Secretary kicked off a big review of IT at CWU. It was a chance to look across the union at what we needed to do, including our core membership tools. I thought the challenge of our old membership system contract coming to an end in 18 months … Continue reading Moving to Dynamics at CWU: a case study from discovery to delivery 

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Four tech trends for unions in 2024

2024 marks the fifth year of our shared journey into digital change for unions, with the TUC’s Digital Lab programme. Since we started, we’ve tackled best practice in digital on many areas of union activity, and we’ve worked directly with many unions to test new ways of working. And unions have done some brilliant work … Continue reading Four tech trends for unions in 2024

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Checking member data with commercial data cleaning services: NASUWT case study

Accurate member data is essential for a trade union of any size. If the purpose of a union is to build power and improve members’ experiences in workplaces, it is fundamental that it is clear who members are, where they work and how to get hold of them. This is especially true in the context … Continue reading Checking member data with commercial data cleaning services: NASUWT case study

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Digital tools to run check off to direct debit member switching campaigns

The TUC Digital Lab held a webinar on how unions can run the most effective online campaigns to switch members from check off dues deduction to paying via direct debit. The context The government have laid secondary legislation to implement some of the remaining parts of the 2016 Trade Union Act that they were unable … Continue reading Digital tools to run check off to direct debit member switching campaigns

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Engaging childcare workers online – case study

Making first contact with non-member workers in a new workplace is getting steadily more difficult for unions. Our changing economy has for a long time meant that there are increasingly industries with higher union density, and others with little or none. Changing work patterns towards casualisation have made it harder for workers to meet each … Continue reading Engaging childcare workers online – case study

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How do we retain more members in our unions?

In early October, the Digital Lab met to discuss digital aspects of member retention. UK union membership fell overall in both 2021 and 2022, and now stands at the lowest level since records began in 1995.  Colleagues from a dozen unions joined our  workshop to consider together why members might leave, and what unions can … Continue reading How do we retain more members in our unions?

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Using peer-to-peer SMS to have real conversations aimed at member retention – RCM case study

Our membership within the Royal College of Midwives consists of a very specific workforce – midwives and maternity support workers, and there’s a clear pathway into that workforce through midwifery students. We’re lucky to have the opportunity to engage and recruit them throughout their course and before qualification; however some work needed to be done … Continue reading Using peer-to-peer SMS to have real conversations aimed at member retention – RCM case study

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Five lessons on leadership for union digital change – Kevin Courtney

Since the start of the TUC’s Digital Lab project in 2019, my NEU Joint GS colleague Mary Bousted and I have shared the newly created role of lead members for digital change on the TUC’s Executive Committee. We’ve talked with other union leaders about this on many occasions, as well as trying to take forward … Continue reading Five lessons on leadership for union digital change – Kevin Courtney

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Measuring and analysing member engagement levels at the CSP

Member engagement is a big priority for the CSP. It gives value to our members for being part of the community. It really helps with recruitment as well, because happy, engaged members are really good advocates for future CSP membership. And an engaged membership helps the union be better informed, more active and more influential, … Continue reading Measuring and analysing member engagement levels at the CSP

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Scoring engagement to improve the member experience at Equity

At Equity, we’ve started a programme to use the Net Promoter Score measurement in our member engagement work. It should help us understand better how members are feeling about their union, and also give us tangible pointers for where we can improve their experience with us. Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a concept that was … Continue reading Scoring engagement to improve the member experience at Equity

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Managing big tech changes in UK unions

Deploying new technology can often be challenging. But deploying technology that will change organisations and how the people within them do their work is generally a lot more complicated than just the technology itself. As distributed organisations, with many stakeholders and complex democratic structures, unions have a lot to consider. Those projects that don’t address … Continue reading Managing big tech changes in UK unions

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Award-winning digital tools for reps: NEU case study

Every year, the TUC hosts the Union Campaigns and Communications awards, which highlights good practice in comms work across TUC affiliates over the year. Winning this year’s category for best communications with reps and activists was the NEU’s Pay Up! campaign, which developed a dedicated portal for activists, giving them insight into how the unions’ … Continue reading Award-winning digital tools for reps: NEU case study

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Using WhatsApp in union organising and communications

WhatsApp is the most used app in the world, with an estimated 30.1 million users in the UK alone. While it’s best known as a messaging service, it also includes audio and video calls, voice messages, and sharing for photos, files and links.  The service allows group communication as well as marketing communication. Shared conversations … Continue reading Using WhatsApp in union organising and communications

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What is shadow IT? And why should unions care?

At the TUC, we’re currently embarking on a project to identify and rationalise the shadow IT that our organisation uses. It’s one of our biggest digital and data risks, and will be for most unions as well. First some definitions. When we’re talking about “shadow IT”, we mean the use of a whole secondary set … Continue reading What is shadow IT? And why should unions care?

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Getting the best deals on tech for unions – lessons from negotiation and group-buying at the ACTU

 Modern unions buy in so many different types of services. At the Australian union federation ACTU’s Union Innovation Hub we’ve looked across a huge range of them to try to save our unions money. In terms of digital tools, that’s included things like CRM, websites, survey tools, event tools, campaign tools, learning management systems, membership … Continue reading Getting the best deals on tech for unions – lessons from negotiation and group-buying at the ACTU

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Introducing cloud CRM platforms for unions

We asked unions last year about what they wanted in terms of shared activity around the CRM projects so many of us are going through. One of those things was more to demystify the market for platform CRM, and which products are out there.  Many of us have been using particular membership database products for … Continue reading Introducing cloud CRM platforms for unions

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Change management to support union tech projects

Implementing a new CRM or other core tech project without paying attention to how you manage the change within the union is risky. At best you may end up missing out on key benefits, and at worst, fundamentally limiting the union’s ability to operate on the new tech. We ran a session with independent IT … Continue reading Change management to support union tech projects

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