Can you track it?

Every budget is being put under the microscope right now, and quite right too.

Have you noticed your water bill has quietly quadrupled? Or your weekly shop has doubled? It can’t just be us.

Each November, I pull every Steadfast Collective expense over £100 a year. I download a spreadsheet from Xero, grouped by supplier, and go through it line by line.

But I’m not looking to shave costs for the sake of it. I’m asking one key question:

“Can I track the return on this spend?”

Here’s what I check:

• Are we still using it?

• Are we paying for more seats than we need?

• Could we save by switching to annual billing?

• Most importantly, is it delivering measurable value?

Let’s take a CRM system as an example. It might cost £3,000 a year. If it helps us win new work, reduce admin time or meet compliance, then that’s money well spent. But if it’s just sitting there, unused and unmeasured, it needs to go.

We ask the same questions of our clients' platforms.

At Steadfast Collective, we partner with membership organisations to grow lifetime value and turn audiences into advocates. The way we do that is through digital platforms that boost engagement, streamline operations, and support measurable growth.

So when we talk about tracking ROI, we’re not talking theory. We’re talking about the core of what we build.

1 - Can you track the impact of engagement?

You can’t improve what you’re not measuring. And when it comes to member engagement, the link to renewal rates is clear. Industry research shows that 51% of associations say a lack of engagement is the reason members don’t renew.

Engagement is not just a warm fuzzy metric. It’s a direct input to revenue. Engaged members stay longer, spend more, and refer others. They become your advocates.

Digital platforms make that engagement trackable. Logins, clicks, community contributions, event attendance, all measurable.

2 - Can you measure operational efficiency?

Behind the scenes, admin is often the biggest silent cost. Manual processes. Siloed systems. Staff tied up in workarounds.

When we build a platform, we don’t just focus on the front end. We look at how we can help teams free up time, remove duplication, and create space to do meaningful work.

And guess what? You can measure that too.

• Time saved on renewals

• Reduction in support requests

• Lower error rates

• Faster onboarding

3 - Can you prove growth?

The best part of digital is that it doesn’t just feel better, it performs better and it shows you that performance in black and white.

With the right tools in place, you can see:

• Which features drive renewals

• Which emails trigger action

• What content actually converts

• How advocacy leads to new sign-ups

• No guesswork. Just data-backed decisions.

When we launched our latest research study into membership organisations, one thing was clear. Growth, engagement and admin pressure are the three top challenges.

That’s why our platforms are built around solving exactly those three things. Not just with good intentions, but with measurable outcomes.

So, back to you. Can you track it?

Can you track your most important business or community metrics?