Measuring Success in Community and Events: Beyond Her Vision’s Key Metrics for Growth
The Beyond Her Vision Blog:
Launching a community or hosting events isn’t enough to guarantee long-term success. You need robust ways to measure impact, identify areas for improvement, and demonstrate ROI—especially if you’re seeking sponsorship or grant funding. In this article, we’ll dive into the essential metrics every community manager and event curator should track. As the founder of Beyond Her Vision, I’ve developed a data-informed approach to ensure our community thrives and our events deliver measurable value. Whether you’re prepping for your first meetup or scaling to annual conferences, these key performance indicators (KPIs) are Beyond Her Vision’s key metrics for growth:
Community Growth Metrics
Member Acquisition Rate
Definition: Number of new members joined within a given period (month, quarter).
Why It Matters: Reflects the success of your outreach and marketing efforts. A sudden spike may correlate with a successful event or referral campaign; a dip signals a need to re-examine promotional tactics.
How to Track:
Slack: Use Workspace Analytics (Admins can view “Growth” metrics).
Email Lists: Track “New Subscribers” in Mailchimp or ConvertKit.
Paid Platforms: Circle or Tribe provides membership reports.
Churn / Retention Rate
Definition: Percentage of members who remain active versus those who drop off (no login, no posts, unsubscribes) over a specific time frame.
Why It Matters: High churn indicates that something isn’t resonating—content, event formats, or perceived value. Reducing churn by even 5% can significantly improve community health.
How to Calculate:
Retention Rate = ((Number of members at period start − Number of members who churned during period) ÷ Number of members at period start) × 100
Benchmarks: For professional development communities, aim for ≥ 75% six-month retention.
Engagement Metrics
Active Users (DAU/WAU/MAU): Count how many members log in or engage (post, comment, react) per day/week/month.
Content Contribution Rate: Number of posts, comments, resource shares. A healthy community often sees 20–30% of members contributing weekly.
Event Participation Rate: Percentage of community members attending events (out of total membership). For free or low-cost events, aim for ≥ 30% attendance; for paid events, ≥ 20% is strong.
Member Satisfaction & Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Definition: On a scale of 0–10, how likely are members to recommend the community to a friend?
Why It Matters: NPS is a universal metric that captures overall sentiment and loyalty. Communities with an NPS of +30 or higher are generally considered excellent.
How to Collect: Use a quarterly survey with a single question: “How likely are you to recommend Beyond Her Vision to another female founder?” followed by a free-text feedback prompt.
Event Impact Metrics
Registration vs. Attendance Rate
Definition: Number of attendees divided by number of registrants × 100.
Why It Matters: Highlights the effectiveness of event reminders, perceived event value, and possible friction points (e.g., confusing instructions, cost, timing conflicts).
Benchmark: A healthy in-person event typically sees a 70–80% show-up rate, while virtual events may hover around 60–70%.
Lead Conversion Rate
Definition: Percentage of event attendees who convert into paying community members, workshop participants, or other paid offerings within 30 days.
Why It Matters: Demonstrates the event’s role in your sales funnel. If your Summit costs $50 to execute per person and generates a 10% membership conversion at $200 annual membership, that’s a solid ROI.
How to Track: Use promo codes unique to each event (e.g., “SUMMIT25” for 25% off membership). Track how many sign-ups use that code.
Engagement During Event
Poll Participation Rate: Number of participants responding to live polls or quizzes ÷ total attendees. A 50% participation rate signals high involvement.
Q&A Volume: Total number of questions asked versus attendees. Helps you gauge how engaged and curious your audience is.
Social Media Activity: Number of event-specific hashtags used, shares, or reposts. A flurry of online engagement broaden the event’s reach.
Post-Event Satisfaction Score
Definition: Average rating (1–5) for “Overall Satisfaction” in a post-event survey.
Why It Matters: While NPS measures long-term loyalty, a post-event satisfaction score gives immediate feedback on logistics, content, and perceived value.
Survey Questions:
“Rate your overall satisfaction with today’s event (1–5).”
“What was your biggest takeaway?”
“Any suggestions to improve future events?”
Sponsor & Partnership ROI (if applicable)
Definition: Value delivered to sponsors versus the exposure or benefit they expected.
Why It Matters: To secure future sponsorships, you need data on brand impressions, attendee demographics, and lead quality.
Metrics to Share with Sponsors:
Number of impressions (email opens, social media views)
Attendee demographic breakdown (e.g., 60% in early-stage startups, 40% post-revenue)
Number of lead captures (e.g., “100 sponsor-branded QR code scans”)
Data Collection & Analysis Tools
Community Platform Analytics
Slack Analytics: Provides member growth, active member counts, and message volume.
Circle/Tribe: Offers more granular insights—page views, thread participation, and event RSVPs.
Event Platforms
Eventbrite: Tracks registration, attendance, ticket sales, and promo code usage.
Zoom Webinar Analytics: Provides attention tracking (percentage of time attendees had the webinar window active), poll data, Q&A logs.
Google Analytics: For tracking traffic to event landing pages and conversion funnels (e.g., visits → registrations).
Survey Tools
Typeform or Google Forms: Easy to embed links in post-event emails.
SurveyMonkey: Provides robust reporting, including NPS calculation and text analysis.
CRM or Membership Database
HubSpot CRM (free tier): Track leads from events and see how many convert to members or purchase services.
Airtable: Build a custom database to track member status, event attendance, and follow-up actions.
Interpreting Metrics & Iterating
Set Quarterly Benchmarks
Example goals:
Increase monthly member acquisition by 15%.
Achieve a 75% attendance rate for workshops.
Maintain a community NPS of +30 or higher.
Review these metrics at month-end and quarter-end to identify trends.
Identify Red Flags Early
If registration spikes but attendance drops, revisit event reminders, clarify instructions, or adjust pricing.
If churn exceeds 25% in a six-month period, survey members immediately to pinpoint dissatisfaction (content, frequency, platform usability).
Celebrate & Communicate Wins
Share high NPS scores (“We scored +45 in our latest survey—thank you for your feedback!”).
Highlight event successes (“Our Summit attracted 120 attendees—up 20% from last year!”). Communicating wins motivates both your team and community.
A/B Test Event Formats
Run two similar workshops (e.g., “Instagram Strategy”)—one hands-on vs. one panel discussion. Compare engagement, satisfaction, and conversion rates to identify which format resonates more.
Tools & Advice
Monthly KPI Dashboard Template
Create a Google Sheet with tabs for:
Member Growth & Churn (line chart showing net growth month over month)
Engagement Metrics (bar chart illustrating DAU vs. WAU, event attendance)
Event Impact (tables for registration vs. attendance, lead conversions, satisfaction scores)
Use built-in charts to visualize trends.
Event Feedback Survey Template
Question 1: “Rate your overall satisfaction (1–5).”
Question 2: “Which session/topic was most valuable?” (Multiple choice)
Question 3: “Did you make a new connection? (Yes/No). If yes, how many?”
Question 4: “What is one area we can improve for next time?” (Open-ended)
Question 5: “How likely are you to recommend our events to a fellow founder? (0–10 NPS).”
Member Check-In Cadence
Schedule at the start of each quarter:
Analytics review (30 minutes)
Team or ambassador meeting to discuss insights (60 minutes)
Quick action plan draft (30 minutes) focusing on top three areas: acquisition, engagement, and event ROI.
