News & Insights

Cooperative Communications: The Cornerstone to Member Engagement

Cooperative Communications continue to be the cornerstone of Member Engagement with the Rural Electric Consumers. Preliminary results from the 2020 National Survey on the Cooperative Difference indicate the majority of members recall receiving communications from their cooperative during the past six months. 
 
The list of communications channels utilized by co-ops is diverse with statewide magazines listed as most mentioned source for cooperative communications, followed by email, printed newsletter, direct mail brochures and bill inserts.  Members prefer to communicate by phone for activities such as reporting a power outage or asking a question about their bill.  Conversely, members prefer receiving text messages for getting updates on outages, high bill alerts and energy conservation requests (Beat the Peak announcements).  Emails are the preferred member communications for items such as board elections, general cooperative news, energy saving tips and information on programs and services offered by the cooperative.
 
This year’s National Survey on the Cooperative Difference polled over 12,000 members from nearly 50 cooperative with representation across all 10 NRECA regions of the country.  For more information on the study, click here.