Rebuilding alumni engagement after rapid member growth
With Cliqueworthy’s support, Pragmatic Institute uncovered where engagement was falling short, aligned their team on what to focus on next, and built a practical playbook that’s already driving deeper conversations and more meaningful participation.
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Member experience audit to surface hidden friction & value misalignment
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Engagement playbook to support the team with planning & action
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Member calls now running twice monthly to meet rising demand
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Increased volume & substance of member conversations within weeks
Georgina Donahue – Sr. Director, Customer
Pragmatic Institute
"My team now has what they need to lead with confidence and autonomy. The difference is remarkable."
“Since completing our project, one of the most noticeable changes has been the shift in confidence across my team. The final playbook has been the single most valuable resource I’ve ever provided them. It’s practical, clear, and deeply supportive. So often, leaders say “we’ve got your back,” but that can feel vague or hollow. In this case, I truly feel I delivered on that promise.
Sophie clearly understood that this type of community must be rooted in business structure, while also recognizing the artful and organic nature that makes it thrive. There’s now a real sense of connection forming, and it’s exciting to watch it build.”
More Members, Less Momentum
Participation was inconsistent, conversations lacked energy, and it was hard to tell who the space was really serving. While new members were automatically onboarded, many never engaged, and even longtime participants were unsure how to contribute meaningfully.
Behind the scenes, their small but committed team was stretched thin. They were managing the platform, testing new ideas, and responding to feedback, but each new effort felt like a guess.
“We’d seen real growth in our member base, but engagement hadn’t kept up. It’s been hard to get a clear sense of what’s working, what’s not, or what members need most from us right now. It felt like we were putting things out into the community without knowing if they were landing, and we needed help figuring out where to go from there.”
STEP ONE:
A COMMUNITY AUDIT TO SURFACE AREAS OF OPPORTUNITY
Before jumping to solutions, we started with a strategic audit to assess what was really happening inside the space. This was not just a data review. It was a structured exploration of the platform, programming, team process, and member behavior.
I examined:
- Participation trends across different formats and timeframes
- How members engaged (or didn’t) after course completion
- Overlap, gaps, and clarity across programs and calls to action
- How the team was defining and measuring success internally
- Content cadence and alignment with member needs
In parallel, I conducted one-on-one conversations with the community team to better understand internal expectations, capacity, and pain points.
I delivered an audit debrief that pulled together platform patterns, member behaviors, and team feedback into a single, digestible picture.
This became the foundation for our next phase of work.
“One of the biggest “click” moments for our team was realizing that we already had most of the right structures in place. The issue wasn’t about starting from scratch, it was about finishing strong. We were getting about 60% of the value out of each of our programs, and by closing the loop and following through, we could unlock far more impact.”
STEP TWO:
FACILITATED WORKSHOPS TO REFOCUS AND REBUILD
With shared insights in hand, I designed and facilitated two strategy labs with the community team.
The goal was to move from audit insights to coordinated action through collaboration, prioritization, and clarity.
Workshop 1: reflection and reorientation
We unpacked what the community had been doing, who it had been serving (intentionally or not), and how current approaches aligned or misaligned with member needs. I guided the team through empathy-based reflection, segmentation exercises, and group discussion designed to reveal assumptions and unlock fresh understanding.
We defined a set of priority member types based on behavior and value alignment, and explored what it would take to truly support those members without overextending the team.
Workshop 2: shifting into strategic decision-making
We translated insights into decisions using tools like prioritization matrices and behavior-impact mapping. The team collaboratively identified opportunities to refine, remove, and experiment across programs, formats, and messaging.
Throughout both sessions, I held space for divergent perspectives, helped the group navigate trade-offs, and provided real-time synthesis to anchor next steps. What emerged was a clear, co-created strategy grounded in shared language, tangible focus areas, and a sense of renewed possibility.
“Sophie was a skilled facilitator, able to guide the conversation without rushing it, making sure every voice was included, and adjusting in real time to meet the group’s needs. I loved that we didn’t just talk at a high level. She pushed us to make decisions we could act on. “
STEP THREE:
TURNING INSIGHT INTO A USABLE PLAYBOOK
With team clarity and strategies to boost engagement in place, I built a custom engagement playbook that turned our ideas into something tangible.
It included:
- Participation pathways aligned with member priorities
- Program guidance with tone, pacing, and design principles
- Sample prompts and post templates to reinforce new habits
- An implementation roadmap that respected team capacity and time
- Guidance for piloting, evaluating, and evolving engagement over time
I also supported internal alignment by clarifying roles, recommending pacing for new initiatives, and coaching the team on how to test and scale without slipping back into overwork or guesswork.
“The playbook is already serving as a practical roadmap for us. It giving us a clear structure that outlines easy wins, targeted initiatives, and longer-term reach goals, plus it’s packed with ideas, frameworks, and reference material that we’ll continue to draw from regularly, almost like an encyclopedia. There’s enough substance in there to guide our work for the next 18 to 24 months.”
Let’s reimagine what your community can do for your members and your mission.
Boosting Engagement with Greater Clarity and Confidence
By the end of the project, the team had far more clarity. It wasn’t just about who they were building for, but how to structure their efforts in a way that could actually move the needle. They had a stronger sense of what members needed next, where to focus limited capacity, and how to create space for real connection instead of just activity.
They left with a shared language to guide decisions, a playbook to anchor their plans, and a set of priorities that felt both practical and achievable. What had previously felt like scattered momentum started to align into a clearer path forward.
Instead of juggling competing ideas or defaulting to familiar formats, the team had a grounded strategy and internal rhythms to support follow-through. Engagement became easier to lead, easier to track, and easier to build on. While the shifts are still in early stages, they are already seeing real traction. Posts are more thoughtful, conversations are deeper, and there’s a sense that the community is finally taking shape in the way they had hoped for.
- An audit that revealed underperforming programs and real member behavior
- Collaborative strategy labs that clarified focus and viable strategies the team could employ.
- Prioritized member segments to guide program design and outreach
- A clear, practical playbook that became the team’s go-to resource for planning and action
- One monthly member call that's already grown so significantly it's now running twice as often
- Thread contributions up in both volume and depth.