The National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) is nearing its goal of adding 1,000 new members in one fiscal year. The NALP board of directors set the goal when the association rebranded last year.

With eight weeks left in the fiscal year, it’s grown by 836 members in the past year. NALP’s yearly membership growth typically hovers around 100 new members, the association said.

“We’re confident we’re going to meet our goal,” said Scott Lindley, vice president of sales and marketing for NALP, in a post on the association’s blog. “We are concentrating on retaining our existing members first, then recruiting new prospects to build our membership numbers. We have a simple philosophy, which is to find out what our members want and do all that we can to give it to them. We’re very aware that there is competition for our members’ attention, so we strive to give them ultimate value for their membership dollar.”

The association grew from 2,563 at the end of the 2015 fiscal year to 3,399 members at the end of February.

NALP said it instituted a more personal approach to member service, emphasizing personal outreach by phone and making a better effort to listen to members’ likes and concerns.